


A Fresh Start

by WalkingFan



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Zombies, Developing Relationship, M/M, Romance, Slow Build, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-19
Updated: 2015-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-08 04:52:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 81,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3195962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WalkingFan/pseuds/WalkingFan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rick is a cop in a new town with his son. After his wife died, he wasn't sure if he'd ever feel anything again. Then he arrests someone who turns his world upside down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Car 29, Car 29. A possible 415 reported at 201 Westbrook Drive. I repeat…” Rick turned the radio down a little as he listened to his new partner talk about the typical calls they would get from dispatch.

“You’re gonna get mostly domestic disturbances. Lotta drinkers in this town. ‘Specially on a Friday night,” Shane said as he took a bite of his hamburger. They ate in their squad car, just in case they got radioed by dispatch. Rick watched as the man in the passenger seat shoved some fries into his mouth, then take a sip of his sweet tea.

Rick nodded. “Yea that’s not too different from my old station.” He took a bite of his own burger, chewing it thoroughly in thought. He wasn’t that hungry, but he knew he’d get a funny look from Shane if he didn’t eat.

Shane seemed like your typical, small town Georgia police officer, only in slightly better shape. He had short black hair and a deep tan, like he spent most of his days out in the sun directing traffic, instead of sitting in this cop car.

Rick’s own complexion seemed twice as pale compared to his new partner’s. It had only been a couple days, but Rick could tell Shane had that aggressive personality that most people expected from police officers. Rick, on the other hand, tended to go by the book, but also tried to be slightly laid back in his enforcement style. People always seemed more willing to work with him that way. He wondered if they would work well together.

He managed to finish the burger and ate about half his fries. He volunteered to throw the trash away and stepped out of the police cruiser to find the closest trash can. He slipped inside the restaurant, tossed the empty wrappers, and slipped into the bathroom quickly before heading back out.

Before the glass door could even close behind him as he stepped back outside, he heard, “C’mon Grimes. We got a call.” Shane waved him to hurry back into the car. As Rick slipped back into the driver’s seat, he asked his partner what it was about. “Nothin’ too crazy. Somebody reported hunters on their land out on the edge of the county. Head north on Thompson.”

Rick followed the directions his partner gave him, still not completely confident about the layout of the town. He had only been here about a week, the first few days spent setting up the house and getting his son enrolled in school.

It took about 15 minutes to get to the location reported by dispatch. They cruised down a bumpy gravel road and pulled up to an old log cabin. A hunched over elderly gentleman in an orange trucker hat and a pair of overalls met them in the driveway.

“I’ll take lead,” Shane said, as they stepped out of their cruiser. Rick nodded in agreement, still learning the ropes of how the force here handled themselves. “Afternoon Joe. How ya doin?” His partner seemed to know everyone in town, so Rick wasn’t surprised by the casual greeting.

“Oh pretty good….pretty good. Retirement’s been treating me well. ‘Course the poor wife’s bout sick of my face,” the old man replied, giving a full view of his dentures as he smiled at his last sentence. Shane gave a chuckle and Rick smiled out of courtesy. “Who’s this?” he asked, looking in Rick’s direction.

“Oh this here’s the newbie. Officer Rick Grimes. Came from Cobb County. Still gettin’ his sea legs. So what’s going on, Joe? Think ya got some hunters on your property?” Rick was learning that Shane didn’t mash his words and he tended to get right to the point.

“Oh I think so. Wife heard a shot this morning. I stepped out back and heard a few more myself. Definitely sounded like a shot gun. Figured I’d let the law handle it. I ain’t in no shape to be taking ‘em down.” The old man smiled again and pointed out where he heard the shots come from.

“Well we’ll go take a look for ya, then. Let you know what we find, Joe.” Shane extended his hand and Joe gave it as good of a shake as he could manage. He waved to Rick and was given a quick nod in return.

The two officers got back in their cruiser and drove around the house to the maintenance road that bordered the property. They slowly worked their way down the dirt path, keeping their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary mixed in with the trees. Then they heard the blast of a shotgun not too far away. Rick stepped on the gas a little more and maybe a minute later came upon a man stepping out of the brush into the clearing in front of them.

Rick halted the car and they both stepped out. The man had his shotgun strapped to his back, carrying two dead ducks in his left hand. He sported his hair shaved close to his scalp while he wore a brown shirt unbuttoned to reveal a dirty white tank underneath. Muddy jeans and steel-toe boots completed the look.

“Aw hell! Merle Dixon, the hell you doing out here?” Shane said in an exasperated voice. The way he identified the man made it clear that the Marion Police Department probably knew this man well. Rick immediately went on alert once he saw the shotgun, but Shane didn’t seem very worried.

“Damn! I knew that old timer would call the law!” yelled Merle, and he threw his set of dead ducks on the ground.

“You know better than this Dixon. Hunting on someone else’s property and without a hunting permit. Hell, it ain’t even duck season! You better have an open carry permit for that shotgun you got strapped to your back.” Shane stood in front of the car, hands on his hips, making it clear he meant business. Rick stood to the side, ready for trouble. He sensed this wasn’t going to end peacefully.

“The hell you say! This was my grand pappy’s land, I have every right to hunt here, and I’ll hunt what I damn well please,” Merle said defiantly.

“It WAS your grandpa’s land, ‘til the bank took it and sold it to old man Joe. So leave the ducks and stay off this here piece of property.” Shane seemed like he was going to let this slide; he must have known this was going to be more trouble than it was worth if he pursued it.

Merle was about to continue his rant, when they heard a voice come from behind him. “Aw hell Merle. Jus’ let it go. A couple ducks ain’t worth it,” and another man stepped into the clearing from behind Merle. He took a puff off a lit cigarette he had in his hand and sat what looked to be a crossbow down against his leg.

“Well that’s just great. Two Dixons always mean twice the trouble. Wish I could say I was surprised to see ya, Daryl.” Shane seemed to completely change his stance after the second man appeared. He seemed much more vigilant, and the man he called Daryl gave him a small nod.

Rick was surprised to hear that these two were brothers. They looked pretty dissimilar. Daryl seemed to be younger and had a leaner frame compared to Merle’s wide stance. His face was more narrow and he had shaggy hair that looked like it was begging for a cut. He also had touches of facial hair. He wore a flannel shirt with the sleeves cut off, but he had on similar jeans and boots as his sibling. The main thing that caught Rick’s attention was his eyes. There was something about them that made Rick feel like the man saw everything around him.

“What’s this ya got here, Shane?” Merle egged, nodding towards Rick. “Fresh meat to the force? I guess y’all needed it after what happened to Mitch,” and he gave a short laugh.

“Cut the shit, Merle. Now I’m willin’ to let this go, just leave the ducks and exit the property.” Shane kept an even tone. Rick figured he wasn’t trying to incite the man any further, but the new officer soon realized that the older Dixon must have had a drink or two before they started their hunt today, and maybe a few more after that.

“Aww, come on Officer Shane. Where’s the fun in that?” Merle slurred a little and then picked up his dead ducks. He promptly gave the two officers the finger and started to walk away.

“Merle! I can’t let you do that!” Shane yelled at the back of the man walking away. He glanced over at Rick and gave him a nod to let him to know to be ready for a struggle when the time came. Rick sensed that this Merle character never went down without a fight.

“Shit Merle. These guys are gonna take you down. Just give’em up.” Daryl tried to persuade his brother, but was ignored just the same. Shane decided to take action. He quickly walked up behind Merle and grabbed his shoulder. This was apparently all the catalyst Merle needed and he turned around swinging. Shane saw the hit coming and quickly ducked. He grabbed Merle’s arm and tried to twist it around his back.

Merle must have been used to this maneuver because he brought a foot down on top of Shane’s, who winced in pain. Briefly distracted by the foot assault, Merle seized the opportunity and brought an arm around and sent his elbow into Shane’s side. As the elbow made contact, Rick ran over to aid his fellow officer.

He tackled Merle to the ground and Shane helped him roll the man over; cuffs were swiftly hooked around his wrists behind his back. “Dammit Merle! Why you gotta be such a pain in my ass?” Shane yelled, gripping his side where the elbow connected. He kicked the cuffed man in his side for good measure, at which point Daryl came over and slugged Shane. Rick guessed he didn’t take too kindly to having his brother kicked while he was down.

“Atta boy, Daryl!” Rick heard the older Dixon yell from the ground. Shane was bent over, hand on his face, as Rick stood up from subduing one brother on the ground to cuffing the one standing by him after he threw the punch.

“Sorry. Gotta do this. Assaulting an officer,” Rick mumbled to him, even though he thought his partner sort of deserved it.

“S’fine. I knew what I was doing.” Daryl said, spitting on the ground at Shane’s feet. Shane looked more pissed off than ever and he shoved Daryl around and pushed him towards the cruiser, reading him his Miranda rights. Rick did the same for Merle as he pulled the shotgun off him and tossed it on the ground a safe distance away. He dragged him up off the ground and took him to the back of the cruiser, placing him in the backseat next to his brother. They put the crossbow and shotgun in the trunk.

“Just another day on the job,” Shane said to Rick once they were situated in their respective seats in the car. Rick faked a short smile and gave his new partner a nod. He didn’t want to cause any rifts between the two on the first week, not while he was still learning his new partner’s habits.

Rick glanced behind Shane’s seat and saw Merle had already started to nod off against the back passenger window. He started the car and when he looked in his rearview mirror, he was caught off guard. He met the blue-eyed gaze of the younger Dixon who had been watching him. He looked away nervously and started to drive. When he glanced back in the rearview, he saw the other man had turned away too.


	2. Chapter 2

They pulled into the dusty police station parking lot 15 minutes later. Rick parked the cruiser and glanced over at his partner, who had been quiet on the ride back. Shane was rubbing a hand over his slightly swollen cheek where Daryl’s punch had landed. Rick figured he must have been annoyed over the younger Dixon putting him in his place after the unnecessary kick he had dished to Merle.

“Alright. Let’s get this over with,” said Shane. Both officers got out of their respective front seats and had a quick stretch. Rick thought these cruisers felt much more cramped compared to his old one. Merle had woken up as they pulled in and he was starting on another rant in the back seat from what Rick could see. His brother just ignored him and kept his eyes shut and head leaned back, like he was used to the outbursts.

“I’ll let you take that one,” Rick said to Shane, nodding towards Merle. He gave a small smile as Shane rolled his eyes and mumbled sarcastic thanks. Rick opened the left rear door and Daryl swung his legs out first. He seemed to have plenty of experience getting out of the back of cop cars. Rick would usually be more hands on getting a cuffed man out of the back of his cruiser, but Daryl didn’t seem like he had any ill intentions.

Once he was standing, Rick held him by the cuffs behind his back and walked him into the station. Shane didn’t have nearly as easy of a time getting Merle out. Once he was out of the back seat, he had to grip the cuffs with one hand and the back scruff of his shirt with the other and push him towards the station, all the while getting cussed like a dog.

Once they were inside, Shane practically shoved Merle into the holding cell, leaving the cuffs on the belligerent man. Rick had more sympathy for the younger Dixon, knowing how uncomfortable cuffs can be, so he unlocked the restraints before he put him in the cell with his brother.

“Don’t think anyone’s put cuffs on me that loose ‘fore,” Rick heard Daryl mumble has he unlocked the second shackle. “No marks or nothing,” he said as he absentmindedly rubbed his wrists.

“Well I don’t see much need in using force when it’s not necessary,” Rick replied, putting the cuffs back in his belt. “You didn’t look like you were gonna do much after that punch.” Rick gave a half smile as the younger Dixon stepped into the cell.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Daryl smirked as he sat down on the bench opposite his brother, who had already keeled over and started to doze off. “Best not show that soft side to the others. They’ll eat ya’ alive here.” Rick snorted and slid the bars closed.

He walked back to his desk that was opposite Shane’s and started on the paperwork. His partner had found some ice and was gently applying it to his cheek as he rocked back in his old swivel chair. “Damn Dixons,” Shane grumbled.

“Yea. From the looks of their files, they both got pretty long rap sheets. I guess some guys never learn.” Rick filled out their charges: Assaulting an officer, Hunting without a permit, Trespassing. He needed to check for a license on the shotgun Merle had with him.

“There ain’t no teaching Merle Dixon. Him and the law were sworn enemies the day he was born. Daryl ain’t usually too bad, on his own anyways. Anytime he’s with his brother, he just goes along with him.” Shane shrugged and got up from his chair, heading for the bathroom.

Rick thought for a minute as he looked through Daryl’s file. Most of his charges, if not all of them, directly coordinated to matching charges on Merle’s sheet. Earlier, it seemed that Daryl wouldn’t have even made a move until Shane decided to give his brother an extra kick for good measure. That had bothered Rick too. He didn’t like using excessive force and at his old station he would have said something. But he wasn’t quite ready to rock the boat here, not yet anyways.

A few hours passed by and he finished all the paperwork he had strewn about his desk. By the time he looked at the clock, it was quitting time. He ran to the trunk of the cruiser and grabbed the weapons they had confiscated. He dropped those off at the evidence locker and went back by his desk to grab his keys.

As he walked through the station to the front door, he decided to swing by the holding cell, although he wasn’t quite sure why. He peeked in as he walked by and saw both brothers on opposite benches, except now they were both lying down. Daryl had a leg on each side of the bench and one arm thrown over his eyes. Rick saw another man had been thrown in there but he sat in the back of the cell, on the floor. He guessed the man must have known better than to wake a Dixon.

Once his nagging curiosity had been fulfilled, Rick walked out of the station, nodding to the officers walking in for the next shift. He got in his own car this time, a green jeep, and drove home. He flipped through every pre-set he had on his radio but couldn’t find anything interesting so he just turned it off with a sigh.

He pulled into his driveway right at 5:30. When he unlocked the front door and opened it, he almost tripped over a box of books. Kicking it over to the other side of the room, he sighed and said, “Carl! I thought I told you to put these books on the shelves.” His only answer was silence, but he could hear the TV from the hallway. He kicked his shoes off and walked to the living room.

His 13 year old son was sitting on the couch with his headphones strapped to his ears, yelling into the mouthpiece to stop using a sniper rifle as explosions went off in the background. Rick went to the couch and picked up the remote and quickly tapped the power button. The screen suddenly went blank and Carl didn’t bother to hide the look of outrage on his face.

“What the heck, Dad?” He threw his controller down and whipped his headphones onto the couch. He sat back and crossed his arms, a firm pout forming over his face.

“Didn’t I tell you to put those books up before I got home today?” Rick questioned.

“I guess. I just forgot,” and his son gave a big shrug before looking away. Rick wanted to roll his eyes at his son’s attitude. Things hadn’t been this hard before he lost Lori.

“Well go do it then, please.” Rick added the nicety on the end to make it seem like less of a command. He still wasn’t sure how to be the bad cop and the good cop in his own home.

“Fine,” and Carl shoved himself up off the couch and went the hallway to start working on the books.

“How was school today?” Rick called from the living room as he searched through the mail that Carl had thrown on the coffee table.

“ Fine. The same as yesterday. And it’ll probably be the same tomorrow.” This time Rick did roll his eyes at his son’s response. He knew his son was angry with him for making him switch schools, but he was still young and he knew his son could make new friends, even if he didn’t agree.

“C’mon Carl. It’ll get better. Just gotta be positive ‘s all.” Rick said after he threw the mail back down and walked to the hallway, leaning over the doorway watching his son hastily toss books onto shelves.

“I guess,” was all the response he got back. Rick sighed and, not for the first time this week, wondered if moving here had been the right thing. After Lori had passed, they had stayed in the same town and the same house for a year, but nothing felt right to Rick. He couldn’t even look in their old closet without thinking about her. When he heard about the new spot opening up at this station, he figured a move could be good for both of them. But with the way Carl had been acting, he wasn’t so sure anymore. Rick only hoped it was just a teenage hormone-fueled phase that he would get over soon.

“Well, I’m gonna hop in the shower and then we’ll go grab some food. Sound okay?” His son responded with only a grunt, and Rick took that as an affirmative. He went to his room and shut the door. He disrobed from his uniform and went to the bathroom, turning the shower on and stepping into the hot water. The room quickly filled with steam and Rick stood under the spray as it beat across his back. He sighed as his body slowly relaxed under the heat.

When Lori had gotten diagnosed with lung cancer, after a month long bout of coughing, Rick was scared shitless. Her prospects were bad, but she had stayed strong for the both of them. As she had slowly deteriorated in the span of just a few months, Rick didn’t know how he was going to manage being a single father. He could barely get Carl to clean his room as it was.

Lori had sensed his tension and she assured him that he could handle anything as her time neared. “Hey, don’t you worry. You’re going to be just fine. Our son loves you and you just have to support him and let him make his own mistakes. Don’t be too firm with him Rick or you’ll just push him away.” Lori had said that to him only a few days before she passed. They had brought her home and Rick and Carl had held her hand as she faded away. Letting Lori go was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do. They had been married almost 15 years and now he felt like he was starting all over again.

Rick quickly washed after standing under the water for 10 minutes and stepped out, toweling himself off. He walked over to the fogged mirror and wiped it with his towel. He looked in the mirror at himself and gave a deep sigh. He was 36 years old and he felt like it. He was still in pretty decent shape, being on the force for over a decade saw to that, but he still felt drained almost every day. He had let his hair grow a little in the past few months and thought it might be time for a trim as he ran a comb through the slightly curly, brown tresses.

He ran a hand over his stubbled jawline and thought about a quick shave, but decided against it. He would take care of that in the morning. He went back to the bedroom and got dressed in his civilian clothes, simple jeans and a flannelled button-up with the sleeves hiked to his elbows. He went back to the front of the house and walked by the bookshelf to see if Carl had done as he asked. The boxes were empty and the shelves were filled. Rick exhaled with relief, knowing that was one less thing to be on top of Carl about.

He walked into the living room where Carl was sprawled across the couch, flipping through channels on the TV. “Alright. Ready to go eat?” Rick asked.

“I guess,” sighed Carl as he snapped the TV off. Rick sent up a silent prayer to get through this meal without strangling his son.


	3. Chapter 3

Father and son sat across from one another in a booth at the small town diner. Rick shifted in his seat and earned a loud squeak from the bright red vinyl underneath him. Carl sat across from him in silence, breaking up his straw wrapper and rolling it into tiny balls that he would fling across the table. One too many ended up hitting Rick, so he took his hand and wiped his son’s small arsenal off the table.

“Y’all need some more Coke?” the waitress came by to ask. Rick nodded and she swooped their glasses away and promptly returned them to the table with a big smile in Rick’s direction. He gave her a quick thank-you and went back to his steak. It was slightly overdone, but Rick ate it without complaint.

Carl, on the other hand, just moved his chicken tenders around his plate, dipping his fries in ketchup and making swirl patterns. “Is it okay?” Rick asked. That last thing he wanted was for his son to not be eating.

“Yea, it’s fine. Just not that hungry.” He popped a fry into his mouth to reassure his dad. After a thoughtful moment of chewing, he asked, “So how’s the new partner? Worth leaving Tim for?” Tim was Rick’s old partner of about five years. He was practically an uncle to Carl, and he had been sad to see the two men leave but he let Rick know that he understood why.

“He’s….different. Still getting use to his style. He’s lived here his whole life so he knows pretty much everyone. Usually means that he takes the lead.” Rick tried to answer carefully. He didn’t want Carl thinking that there were any issues with the new job that they had left their old life for.

“Must be a big change for you,” Carl teased. Rick laughed at him and stole a fry off his plate. “Hey! These are my fries,” his son said indignantly and started to eat them rapidly so his dad couldn’t get his hands on them. Rick loved how reverse psychology worked sometimes and was relieved that after a few minutes his son had eaten most of his plate.

Once they finished, the waitress came back over and sat the check down. “Here ya go. Hope y’all enjoyed it,” and she gave Rick another big smile with a slight bat of her eyelashes. Rick returned a small smile and gave her a nod of thanks. He could tell that she was interested in him, but he really hadn’t given her a second thought.

It had actually been quite some time since Rick had been attracted to anyone. Him and Lori had been together so long that he got comfortable with her and while they had still occasionally had sex, it had been nowhere near as thrilling as it had been when they first got married. But Rick figured that was normal. It’s not like he had anyone to ask about such an intimate topic.

Even after Lori had passed away, he hadn’t been interested in anyone. She had tried to tell him to not be afraid to be with someone else after her, but he always pushed that conversation away. He didn’t even want to think of something like that when he was holding the hand of his dying wife.

Now that they had moved, Rick thought a little more about it. He looked at the waitress one more time, really looking at her. She was younger, maybe late 20s. She had long red hair and a symmetrical face that she obviously took care of. She had a lean body with a few curves in what some might consider the right places. But no, Rick just couldn’t find it in himself to be attracted to her. This is how he felt about every woman he saw now.  

He laid some cash on the table and they scooted out of the booth. Carl went for the door first and before Rick could turn around, the waitress had already come back to the table to clear it off and was still giving Rick “Love Me” eyes. Rick tried to be polite and gave her another halfhearted smile as he walked away. This hadn’t been the first time in the past year that he’d had to walk away from an eager woman.

Once they got back home, Carl hopped right back onto the video games. Rick asked if he had done his homework to which his son swore up and down that he had. He didn’t feel like questioning him anymore tonight so he just let his son continue shooting left and right. Rick went into the kitchen to empty the dishwasher. He saw that Carl hadn’t taken out the trash like he was supposed to and Rick let out a sigh as he bagged it up.

After that, he picked up any random clothes he found and put them in the hamper that was already full. He’d have to do laundry at some point, but he certainly didn’t feel like it tonight. Once all the necessary cleaning was done, Rick said good night to his son, who he told to go to bed soon, and went to his own room.

He shut the door and peeled his jeans and shirt off, climbing into bed in only his underwear. He rested his back against the headboard and pulled out his laptop. He checked his email and usual news websites. Rick wasn’t really into social media. After he was caught up on current events, he decided to relieve some stress from today and pulled up some porn sites.

He looked through a few pages but nothing seemed to grab his interest or even really turn him on. He exited the windows and put the laptop back into the nightstand with a sigh. He scooted down into bed and started to rub himself over his boxer-briefs as he let his mind wander.

A mixture of images drifted through his head, but he didn’t stay on any one too long. He thought of times with Lori, when they still had hot, needy sex or when he would get the occasional blowjob from her. He felt his cock start to stiffen and he pulled the band of his underwear down, letting his erection breath.

He grasped his thick cock in his hand and started to give it long, slow strokes. He continued to let his thoughts roam as he pleasured himself. He used his free hand to reach down into his boxer-briefs and cup himself, giving a light squeeze. He put some spit in his hand for a little lubrication and went back to stroking himself, quickening his pace.

He felt his orgasm building and he jerked his hand relentlessly until he peaked over the edge and felt liquid puddle onto his stomach. As he caught his breath, he grabbed some tissues and mopped up his mess. He tossed them into the trashcan by his bed and threw himself back onto the pillow in a confused heap. Confused because the last thing he thought of, as he was pushed into an intense orgasm, was a set of blue eyes looking at him.


	4. Chapter 4

Rick woke up early the next morning. He had a later shift today, working until eight tonight, so he didn’t have to be in until almost noon. He decided to get up and cook breakfast for Carl. As he walked by his son’s room, he poked his head in to see if he was up. Of course, Carl’s head was still on the pillow, mouth wide open as he let go of a loud snore.

Rick sighed and picked up a dirty sock and tossed it at his son’s face, hitting him directly in the nose. Carl winced and threw the sock onto the floor as he opened his eyes. “What?!” he practically yelled, holding a hand over his face as Rick turned on the overhead light.

“It’s seven. C’mon and get up. You gotta leave in 45 minutes.” He left the light on and walked to the kitchen. He was in the mood for some eggs and bacon, and hoped his son would be too. Once he got the pan going on the stove, he glanced back down the hallway to make sure Carl had gotten up. The bathroom door had been shut and Rick could vaguely hear the shower going.

Once the food was done, he made his plate and left Carl’s on stove. He went to the front door and opened it to find the local paper sitting on his steps. He grabbed the rolled up pages wrapped in plastic and went back to the kitchen, sitting at the table to read while he ate. About ten minutes later, his son finally emerged from the back of the house and grabbed his own plate.

“You better hurry,” Rick said as he glanced at the clock on the stove. “You want a ride today?”

“Sure. Better than being the new kid on the bus,” his son replied. Rick frowned at that. He hoped his son would adjust soon. Maybe he’d come home in a better attitude.

After they scarfed their food down, Rick had Carl put the dishes in the dishwasher while he threw on a pair of sweat shorts and a t-shirt. They hopped in Rick’s jeep and headed to Carl’s school that was only a few miles away.

“Gotta work a little late tonight so just throw some of those pizza things in the oven. You know to call me if you need me. I should be back around 8:30.” Rick hated working hectic hours. At his old station, he had worked there long enough to earn a steady weekly schedule. But a new station meant new rules and new ladder he had to work his way up. It also meant more time away from Carl.

“It’s cool Dad. I think I can make it until 8:30. Hell, maybe even 9,” Carl replied sarcastically. He tossed an eye roll on the end for good measure.

“Hey. Watch your mouth. And I’m just covering my bases. You ARE only 13, you know. You aren’t grown yet, no matter how much you think you are.” Rick glanced over at his son, who had let a firm frown form across his face. He turned back to the road and let out an inaudible sigh. Sometimes he felt like he was just winging this parenting thing.

He pulled up to the front of the school to let Carl out. He reached a hand over and ruffled his son’s shaggy hair for a quick second. “Today will be better. Love you son.” He heard Carl mumble a short “Love you,” before he slid out of the jeep and walked towards the building. Rick watched him step inside before he pulled off.

Once he got back home, he decided to pull out his headphones and music player and go for a run. Rick’s new neighborhood was pretty flat, so it made for an unchallenging jog, but he figured he needed the exercise anyway. He ran past all the new houses in his neighborhood that looked like they had been thrown together and stuck on a plot of land to make a squashed together community. None of the houses had any side windows, so you couldn’t look out your kitchen and right into your next door neighbor’s.

Rick used to hate these kinds of developments. He preferred older houses with big patches of land surrounding them. This new house sat only on a tiny quarter-acre, but it was all they really could afford. After paying off Lori’s medical bills with the life insurance, there was only a little left to put away for Carl’s college. Their old house hadn’t sold for as much as Rick had wanted, but he was eager to be away from that place that reminded him so much of the past.

Rick tried to reason that a house was just four walls. A home was what you made inside of it. But sometimes the lack of privacy rubbed him the wrong way. He had gotten to the end of his street and already seen three neighbors that he had to do the awkward run-and-wave maneuver so he didn’t look rude. Since he was a part of the town’s law enforcement, he really wanted the citizens to like him.

He kept running to the next block. His thoughts returned to last night and the set of blue eyes that flashed through his mind as he had finished himself off. Rick knew who they belonged to, but he still had no clue why they were the one thing to show up at that moment. Maybe his subconscious was trying to tell him something. Rick’s thoughts were starting to get muddled, so he turned around and started back towards the house.

He got back to his front door in one piece, narrowly avoiding another neighbor run-in. Once inside, he went to the living room and turned on the news as he did a few sets of push-ups and sit-ups. He felt like, as a cop, it was a part of his duty to stay connected to all world events. Once the stories started to repeat, Rick got up and went to his bathroom to rinse off the sweat from his workout.

This shower was much quicker than last night’s, and when he got out he gave himself a quick shave. He got his uniform ready and by the time he got dressed, it was just about time to leave. He fixed a quick cup of coffee and grabbed a snack before heading out the door.

Rick pulled into the police station and cut the engine to his jeep. He climbed out of the driver’s seat and walked inside. Before he could even consciously recognize what he did, he walked to the holding cell and glanced in. It was empty and Rick felt an odd sense of disappointment. He walked over to his desk and sank down into his swivel chair.

He glanced across to his partner’s desk, but it still looked relatively untouched since last night, so Rick assumed Shane hadn’t made it in yet. He looked through the papers that had been placed on his desk since he had been gone. One of them contained the confirmation that Merle Dixon did in fact have an open carry permit for his shotgun. Rick wasn’t too surprised by that and added the information to the file he had started yesterday.

About 20 minutes later, Shane rolled in and plopped down into his chair across from Rick. He gave a gruff “Mornin’,” to his partner, who looked up and saw the shiner Shane was sporting on his cheek. Rick had a hide a small smile that threatened to form on his lips. Shane saw the glint in his eyes though and said, “Don’t say a word, man.” He got up from his chair and went to make a cup of coffee.

Rick heard other officers comment on the bruise as Shane made his way back. His partner seemed to be in a sour disposition, which didn’t surprise him one bit. Rick got up to turn some files in and on his way back to his desk, he walked by the holding cell and couldn’t stop himself from glancing in one more time, as if there were any change. The cell was still empty.

Once he sat back down, he asked his partner, “They make bail?” and he nodded towards the empty cell, hoping that Shane knew who he was talking about. Shane looked up, pulled out of his reverie, and asked Rick to repeat his question.

After a second attempt, Shane said, “Ah yea. They don’t usually try to stay behind bars too long. I think Johnson said they left like an hour ‘fore we got here. Well, you ready to head out?” Rick nodded, already tired of sitting behind his desk. That was the one good thing about police work, you weren’t in the “office” too much.

They spent the day on mostly uneventful calls. A few car accidents that needed a police report. A report of a possible break in that turned out to be someone who lost their keys and tried to get inside their house via the kitchen window. And one domestic disturbance that took over an hour to resolve. Shane had definitely gotten it right about those kinds of calls. This job was rarely boring, but some days you couldn’t help but wish for an exciting call from dispatch.

Once they got back to the station, their shift was just about over. Rick finished up a few things at his station and got up to leave. Shane walked over with a couple other officers and asked, “Hey Grimes. We’re gonna head for a beer at County Line. Wanna join?”

Rick was tempted to turn him down and go home and spend some time with his son. But he knew he needed to build a relationship with these men if he was going to trust his life to them. Cops were close knit for a reason. “Uh sure. Let me run home and change and check on my son and I’ll meet you guys there. ‘Bout 30 minutes?” The other men gave him a nod and one even gave him a pat on the back as they walked out of the station together.

Rick hopped into the jeep and drove home. He hoped Carl would be okay with him going out, but who was he kidding? Carl probably wouldn’t even notice. He pulled into his short driveway and walked inside. His son was, of course, playing video games. Rick walked into the living room and sat down for a minute.

He waited for his son to give him his attention but he just kept playing, so Rick waved a hand in front of his face to let him know he wanted to talk. Carl sighed and tugged his headphones off but kept his attention on the screen. “Hey. What’s up?” he said briefly.

“Nothing much. The guys at the station asked me to go out for a beer tonight. You gonna be okay here on your own for a little bit longer?”

“Yea. I’ll be fine. You go make friends.”

“Speaking of friends, how was school?” Rick questioned.

“Fine, I guess. Met this one guy named Jake in my history class. He seems okay. We’re playing in the same squad right now,” and Carl nodded towards the TV.

Rick was confused for a second. “What do you mean?” Carl gave an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes at his father.

“He’s into the same game. So he gave me his name, I added him, and now we’re playing in the same squad against other people. It’s not rocket science Dad.”

“Alright, alright. I get it. I’m gonna go change.” And Rick got up, ruffled his son’s hair, and walked to his bedroom. Rick almost felt a small weight lift off his shoulders knowing that his son had made a friend today. He smiled as he pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Maybe things were looking up.

He ran a quick comb through his hair and walked by the living room to say goodbye to Carl. His son mumbled some slightly incoherent words that resembled “See ya later” and Rick walked back out the jeep. He pulled out of his driveway and headed to the bar.


	5. Chapter 5

Rick pulled up to the bar the guys had told him about. It was called County Line and looked like your average small town bar, wood exterior with a few neon signs in the windows. It was still technically kind of early, so there weren’t too many cars in the dirt parking lot.

Rick got out and pushed the jeep door closed. He actually felt a little nervous and he tried to brush the ridiculous feelings away. This wasn’t the first day of school. It was just some grown men drinking beer together. So what if Rick wanted them to like him?

He walked through the front door and squinted around the dimly lit room. The bar area was a big square in the middle of the room with round tables surrounding it towards the front and a couple of pool tables in the back.

“Rick! Over here!” Rick glanced to his left and saw his fellow officers sitting around one of the tables, a half-full pitcher sitting in the middle. He walked over and took one of the empty seats as Shane filled an empty glass and slid it over his way. Rick nodded a quick thanks and took a swig of the amber liquid. It had been a while since he had had a beer and it went down smooth. So smooth that before he knew it he had drank half his glass.

“Ya thirsty, Grimes?” one of the officers teased and Rick laughed. The officer, Rick thought his name was Mark, topped his glass off again and Rick raised it towards him to show he was grateful. The guys continued on with a conversation they were having before he had got there.

“Man, this guy called in a noise complaint about his neighbor. Turns out his girlfriend left him for the guy across the street and he thought he heard them getting busy so he decided to interrupt them the only way he knew how. Waste of a perfectly good hour,” said Mike, who snorted and drained half his beer.

“Aw y’all didn’t have to put up with nothing,” said Shane. He waved away their stories like they were just blowing smoke. “Come talk to me when you got both Dixons to put up with and then we’ll talk.” A loud groan swept through the table and Rick just smiled at the others’ reactions.

“Oh please. You got one shiner and a mild hunting violation,” said one of the other officers, pointing at Shane’s swollen cheek. “Last year, I had to break up a bar brawl that Merle started, and it wasn’t even technically my jurisdiction. They just didn’t want to have to deal with his ass. You got off light, Walsh. At least you had the new guy here,” he patted Rick on the shoulder, “who’s still spry. Hasn’t had to put up with all the Dixon bullshit yet.” He finished his sentence and smiled at Rick, but the smile didn’t come across as all that sincere.

“Nah…wasn’t too bad,” Rick agreed. “Dealt with that a lot in my old town. We had our own troublemakers too.” Rick was only half-telling the truth. His old station had a few people that they saw more than once a year, but nobody that they were really on a first name basis with. He just didn’t want to seem like the rookie they were trying to make him out to be.

“Yea, yea, yea. We talking or we drinking?” Shane asked. He motioned to the bartender to send over another pitcher. “Point is, I clearly won by a mile.” The table erupted in shouts as they threw balled up napkins at Shane, who tried to duck them as he laughed.

Rick must have had a quizzical look on his face because Mike leaned over to explain. “Whenever we go out for a beer, we all talk about our worst calls since the last time we got together. Whoever wins, has the worst story, gets a free shot.”

“Oh. I see,” Rick replied. He felt sure he didn’t have anything worthy enough to tell to this table full of men. He kept quiet for most of the night, making sure to laugh after any jokes and only putting his two cents in when he really had something worth saying. The officer who patted Rick’s shoulder earlier, named Roger, ended up winning the shot with a story about having to do a check on an 85-year-old woman whose daughter hadn’t heard from her in a week. The old woman had died about four days prior and it had been a pretty hot week. The guys almost bought him a second shot to clean his eyes out with.

Rick had been there almost an hour and he decided to call Carl just to make sure he was okay. Rick stood and told the guys he’d be right back, brandishing his cell phone. He walked up to the bar and sat down on one of the tall bar stools. It was still pretty slow, so it was quiet enough to make a quick phone call.

Rick dialed the house number and waited. The phone rang almost 6 times before Carl answered. “Hello?”

“What took ya so long? I was starting to get worried,” Rick said, exasperated.

“I was in the bathroom. I’m fine. Jeez.”

“Alright. Did you eat?” Rick asked.

“Yea. I had those pizza things.”

“Okay. Well I shouldn’t be here too much longer. Just wanted to check in.”

“Alright. See you soon.”

Rick said a quick “I love you,” and hung up. As soon as he put the phone back in his pocket, the front door swung open and in walked a small group of four or five men. In the front of the small pack was none other than Merle Dixon. Rick glanced over at his table of fellow officers to gauge their reaction, but they only sat there stoic. Rick figured they were eyeing him up to see what kind of mood Merle was in and if he’d be any trouble.

“Well evening officers!” Merle gave a slight bow, an obvious show of sarcasm, and laughed. “Don’t you worry your pretty little heads. I’m only trying to get arrested once a week now-a-days.”

“Let’s keep it that way, Merle,” Rick heard Mike say as Merle’s group made it towards one of the pool tables in the back. The others guys with the elder Dixon seemed to be a rag-tag bunch that Merle had probably kept by his side since he was a kid. They all took direction from their leader. Rick was about to stand up when the door to the bar opened one more time and this time the younger Dixon brother walked in, much quieter than his predecessors.

Rick hadn’t expected to see the man again, at least not any time soon. The thought of what had happened last night, what flashed before Rick’s eyes as he peaked, immediately came to Rick’s mind and a small flush worked its way up his neck. Instead of going back to his table, Rick was glued to his bar stool. He pulled his phone back out and pretended to look somewhat busy as he fiddled with it.

“Hey Daryl! Grab us some drinks!” Merle called from the back. Daryl nodded as he walked up to the bar, coincidentally standing right next to Rick.

“Hey Mack. Gimme a pitcher and some glasses,” the younger Dixon told to the bartender. The bartender nodded and grabbed a pitcher to fill up. “Not the good stuff. Give ‘em the cheap shit.” And he smiled as Mack switched pulls to the cheaper beer. Daryl pulled a pack of smokes out of his pocket and gave them a quick tap before he slid one out to light. He finally looked over at Rick and gave him a nod. “Officer.”

Rick chuckled nervously and pocketed his phone. He glanced over at the other man and said, “You don’t have to call me that when I’m out of uniform. Name’s Rick.”

“Like whiskey, Rick?” Daryl asked, taking a puff on the smoke he just lit.

“Sure…” Rick answered with a shrug.

Mack brought the glasses and the pitcher of beer over to Daryl and sat them down. “Two whiskeys Mack,” and he pointed down in front of Rick and him. Mack nodded and within 10 seconds had two short glasses on the counter, slowly pouring whiskey into each.

“Oh hey. You don’t have to do that. That’s real nice but I probably don’t need anymore.” Rick wasn’t sure why he was turning down the offer. Maybe he knew he shouldn’t let someone buy him a drink that he had arrested only a day ago.

“Who says I’m being nice? Maybe it’s just a bribe so I’ll get good treatment the next time I get cuffed.” Daryl smiled and Rick knew he was just joking. The younger Dixon picked up his glass and pointed it at Rick to do the same. Rick smirked and picked up his own glass and the two men threw the drink back.

Rick enjoyed the slow burn that went all the way down to his belly. He looked over and said, “Well hopefully there won’t be a next time.” He knew that was doubtful, but as a cop he had to hope that people would get their act together at some point.

Daryl huffed out a short laugh. “Yea. Right. So you havin’ a cops night out or somethin’?” He nodded towards the table of officers, which hadn’t seemed to notice Rick’s long absence yet.

“Yea…Gotta make friends, I s’pose.”

“Well, you better not let them see you talkin’ to me,” Daryl said with a half-smirk. Rick could tell he was trying to joke but there was probably an ounce of truth to that too. Before he could respond, Merle broke into their conversation from the back of the room.

“Yo! Baby bro! Where’s my beer?” Merle yelled while he chalked his pool stick.

Daryl sighed and rolled his eyes. He threw down some cash on the bar and picked up the glasses and the pitcher. He turned towards Rick and finally met his eyes with his own piercing blue set. “Have a good night…Rick.”

“You too…Thanks for the drink,” Rick replied, looking away anxiously. After the other man had walked to the back, Rick finally got up and rejoined his table. They were in some deep conversation about which handgun was better to carry. They didn’t even notice when Rick sat back down. He sat around for about ten more minutes but realized he didn’t have much more to add to this conversation.

He paid his share of the beer and told the guys goodnight. They waved as he left and when he got to the door, he did one quick glance at the back. The younger Dixon was mid-shot, leaning his slim body against the pool table, trying to get a stripe into the corner pocket. Rick turned back around and walked out the door.

He headed home in a relatively good mood. The night had turned out better than he expected, but he was relieved that it was over. He walked in his front door and as he walked down the hallway, he checked into Carl’s room. His son was sprawled across the bed asleep and he had already kicked the covers off. Rick couldn’t help it and walked quietly in to cover his son back up. A habit he could never shake.

He continued on to his room and once inside, he quickly undressed. He slipped between his covers and lay down. He was exhausted but once he relaxed against his bed, he couldn’t help but slip his boxer-briefs down and go to work on his stiff cock just like he had the night before. Except this time, when he came, all he could think of was Daryl.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning Rick woke up groggy. He had a restless night’s sleep. He kept having strange dreams that he couldn’t even recall now. He would wake every few hours and fall back to sleep only to repeat the process 3 times in the night. He staggered out of bed and went to his bathroom. After his morning piss, he cranked on the shower and jumped in, hoping the water would wake him up.

Once he got out and put his uniform on, he felt slightly better. He walked to the kitchen and was pleasantly surprised to find his son already sitting at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of cereal. “Morning son,” Rick said as he started the coffee pot. Carl gave him a small acknowledgement and continued focusing on the tablet in front of him.

Rick went and grabbed the paper and came back to the kitchen. After he fixed his coffee, he sat at the table and flipped through the news pages. Nothing seemed too interesting and Rick soon found his mind wandering to other thoughts. Thoughts like why was he thinking of Daryl Dixon while he jerked himself off?

Rick had never been attracted to a man before, but there was no denying that the hunter had this draw to him. Rick knew he had glanced to the back of the bar last night a few times after he had gone back to the table. The younger Dixon hadn’t even turned his head Rick’s way, at least not while Rick was looking, and that made him feel slightly disappointed.

The truth of the matter was that Rick hadn’t even taken a second glance at a woman, or at any person, since Lori had passed and if Daryl Dixon was the person to make him feel something for once, then so be it. Rick wondered if that made him gay. He didn’t think so because he had never been sexually attracted to any other man, and he had seen plenty of other guys in the locker room. No, there really was something about Daryl that felt different. Rick wasn’t sure what that was, but he wasn’t ready to give up on it yet. Rick found himself wondering if Daryl was attracted to men.

“Hello……Earth to Dad,” Carl said, waving his hand in front of Rick’s face. He must have gotten lost in thought while he was reading.

“Sorry. Got some stuff on my mind.” Rick grabbed his coffee and took a sip only to find that it was cold. He really did get lost in thought.

“You okay? How was last night?”

“Oh it was good. Good. The guys seem pretty nice.” Rick didn’t bother mentioning his run in with Daryl. His son would only look at him weird. “How was your night? Sorry I wasn’t here for most of it.”

“It was fine. I guess I kept the hellraising to a minimum if you didn’t hear anything about it.” Carl laughed after his last sentence and although Rick was tempted to tell him to watch his mouth, he couldn’t help but let go of a hardy laugh too. “Time for the bus. Love ya Dad.” His son grabbed his bag and actually came over to give Rick a quick hug.

“Have a good day,” he called as his son ran out the door. It was almost time for Rick to leave too. He poured out his coffee and threw the dishes in the dishwasher. Rick was glad it was Friday and he actually had the weekend off. He was hoping this day would go by quick.

He got to the station and Shane was already there. Rick didn’t have much paperwork this morning so they hit the cruiser early. For the most part, the day went by at a steady pace. They had a few traffic violations, but nothing serious. After lunch, a call came through dispatch about some kids vandalizing a local park, so they drove over and made the kids clean it up.

The last call of the day was a domestic dispute. Shane knew his Fridays pretty well it seemed. The husband was already half in the bag, so they brought him into the station on a drunk and disorderly and let him sober up in the holding cell. Rick had to stay a little late to finish up the paperwork, but he made it home by six.

He was excited to have the weekend to spend with his son after such a hectic week. Father and son sat on the couch in the living room with their feet propped up on the coffee table. They were watching some movie on cable that Rick knew Carl liked. He took a sip of his can of diet Coke and looked over at his son. “Hey. Shane told me about this place called Belews Creek. He said they got some pretty decent fishing. Wanna go tomorrow? The weather’s s’pose to be nice.”

Rick tried not to sound pushy. Whenever he did, his son would automatically shut down and he was desperate for some time with him. “Sure. That could be cool,” Carl replied. Rick tried to play off the happiness he felt at his son saying yes. He just half-smirked and nodded his head a few times. But he really wanted to jump up and down and toss confetti in the air.

After the movie, Carl started in on his video games. Rick didn’t begrudge him that since he agreed to the fishing tomorrow. He felt like he still had some pent up energy so he decided to go for a quick run around the neighborhood. He went and changed into his gear that he wore for running at night and told Carl he’d be back in a few minutes.

Rick jogged around the neighborhood and thankfully all the neighbors seemed to be inside for the night. He didn’t have to worry about any awkward run-ins. His mind zoned out like it always did when he ran. Soon his thoughts turned towards Daryl again. A few naughty images flashed across his mind and he tried to brush them away. Thinking these things when he wasn’t in bed made them seem all the more real.

Try as he may, he couldn’t resist the thought of putting his lips to the younger Dixon’s. He imagined running his hands all over Daryl’s body, yanking the man’s shirt off. Rick decided to turn back and head home. Once inside, he decided to hop in the shower just to rinse the sweat off him.

In his bathroom, he turned the shower on for the second time that day. He pulled his shirt off and yanked his shorts down. He was already half-way hard and that was difficult to hide when you were jogging. He was glad he turned back when he did. He stepped under the water and let it pour down his body.

His mind turned to the same dirty thoughts as before and Rick took a hand to his stiff length and started to stroke himself. The idea of kissing Daryl and touching his body had Rick reaching his climax in no time. He gave a hard grunt while he shot his load at the drain and rested his head against the shower wall as he caught his breath. Apparently Rick’s cock couldn’t get enough of these thoughts about Daryl.


	7. Chapter 7

Rick woke the next morning feeling refreshed. He jumped out of bed and got dressed. It was still early so he decided to let Carl sleep a little longer. He went to their storage shed out back and grabbed their fishing gear. Their reels were a little dusty since it had been a few months since they used them but Rick eagerly cleaned them off.

He grabbed his empty cooler and the fishing gear and stuck them in the back of the jeep. After that he went back into the house and woke Carl up. He didn’t seem quite as energetic as his father. Rick went back to the kitchen and made a quick breakfast while Carl got ready. After they ate, they hopped in the jeep and headed out.

The place Shane had mentioned was on the other side of town and once they got close, Rick stopped at a gas station that sold bait too. He got his worms along with some drinks and ice for the cooler. He gave the bait to Carl, who made a grimace that Rick couldn’t help but chuckle at, and he went to the back to fill up the cooler. As he broke up his bag of ice, an older black pickup truck pulled into the parking spot next to him.

He started pouring the ice in the cooler when he heard the truck’s driver-side door open and Rick’s police instinct had him looking up to see who it was. His heart almost skipped a beat when he saw the younger Dixon slam the door shut. Daryl turned around and put his spent cigarette out on the ground, and then his eyes met Rick’s and his face almost looked surprised.

Rick gave him a quick wave and a nod, trying to be polite. He wasn’t sure if he should go talk to him or not, especially when he had his son with him. Daryl made that decision for the both of them when he walked around to the back of Rick’s jeep. “Mornin’ Officer. I mean, Rick,” he teased slightly. He leaned against the back of Rick’s jeep while Rick finished with the cooler.

“Morning,” Rick responded, honestly not sure of what to say.

“Going fishing? Down at Belews?” Daryl asked, nodding toward the fishing equipment in the back of Rick’s jeep.

“Hmmm? Oh yea. Figured I’d check it out. Shane said it was a pretty good spot.”

“Yea. It’s alright. There’s a few better places. But that’s a decent one to start at, I s’pose.”

Rick glanced over at Daryl’s truck and saw the bed piled up with 2x4s. “Doing some woodwork today?”

Daryl glanced back at his truck and shrugged. “Helping someone out ‘s all. Fishing all alone?”

Before Rick could answer, Carl opened the jeep door and shouted to him. “Dad! What’s taking so long?” A look of understanding crossed Daryl’s eyes as Rick told his son he’d be right there. Rick ran a hand through his hair and smiled, gesturing towards his son.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to it then. Have a nice day, Officer.” And Daryl backed away and went into the gas station before Rick could even respond with a simple, “You too.” He sighed as he shut the back of the jeep, frustrated that he had lost a chance to talk to the other man. He climbed back into his seat and started the engine.

“Who was that?” Carl asked curiously.

“Uh….just someone I know from work.”

They spent a good portion of the day by the water. They caught a few fish, but nothing to brag about. Rick wondered if Daryl was right about there being better fishing spots elsewhere. Towards the afternoon they packed up and headed back home. They were both beat from the sun blazing down on them most of the day. Even though they didn’t catch much, Rick was happy to have spent the time with his son. He even talked with him about something serious that had been on his mind.

“Carl, you know I loved your mom right?” Rick broached this topic with trepidation.

“Yea….why?” his son asked incredulously as he cast out his line.

“I just want you to know there’s no one that can replace her, ever. She was an amazing woman.”

“I know.”

“Do you ever….Do you ever think that you’d be okay…if I…if I started dating again?”

“Why? Do you have someone in mind right now?” Carl’s face seemed alarmed as he posed his question.

“No…not really,” Rick lied. “This is more of a broad, general question, I think.”

“I mean, I guess I wouldn’t care.” His son shrugged. “I figured it would happen sometime. At least mom said it would.”

“She did? When? What’d she say?”

“She said that she didn’t want you to be alone. That you did better when you had someone to depend on. And that it would happen in its own time and I just need to be accepting of it. You know, typical mom crap.”

Rick laughed a little. “Hey. That mom crap was some of the best advice I ever got. One day, you’ll realize that too.” Rick leaned over and elbowed his son. Carl just smiled and kept his attention on his line. Rick felt slightly reassured, even though he hadn’t brought up the topic of potentially dating a man. He was a little too anxious to talk about something like that, for the time being anyway.

After fishing, the two men spent the rest of the day and the next at the house relaxing. Rick took the opportunity to do a few things around the home that needed to be done. He did all the laundry, hung up a few pictures that had been sitting around, and even mowed the tiny bit of yard that he did have. Even though he managed to stay busy, there was certain person who was always at the back of his mind.

He went to bed early Sunday night since he had an early shift the next day. He woke up before the sun had even risen and quickly showered. After he got dressed, he ate a quick breakfast and peeked in on Carl. His son was still sound asleep, but Rick wanted to let him know that he was leaving. He gave his son a brief shake on the shoulder to rouse him from his slumber. Carl grumbled awake and squinted at his dad.

“Hey. I’m heading out now, but I’ll be here when you get home. I’ll see you tonight. Love you.” Carl mumbled some sort of response and Rick could only hope that his son remembered everything he said when he woke up.

Rick headed to the station and when he walked inside, he couldn’t help but sigh at the amount of papers on his desk. He knew it would be bad after having two days off, but this was a bit much. It took him the better part of an hour to get through a good sized portion of it. Shane rolled in an hour after Rick and he let out his own heavy sigh as he sat as his desk, which was equally stacked with papers and files.

“Have a good weekend?” Rick asked his partner.

“Pretty good. Met this hot little number at bar over in Jefferson,” Shane replied, talking about the next town over. “Certainly didn’t want to come back to all this shit.” He picked up his stack of files and let them drop back down on the desk.

“Trust me. I know the feeling.”

Both men worked on their piles for the next hour. Finally, Shane got fed up and threw his pen down. “Alright. I’m ‘bout sick of this shit. Ready to go?” Rick agreed, seeing as most of his work was almost done. Shane still had half of his stack to do, so he’d be the one staying late tonight. Rick grabbed his keys and they hit the cruiser.


	8. Chapter 8

The morning started with a call from dispatch about a robbery in progress at a convenience store about 10 blocks away. Rick threw on the siren and they headed that way. By the time they got there, the robber had already made off in the getaway car, but a witness had gotten plate numbers. While Shane got eyewitness accounts, Rick ran the plate and got the driver’s info.

They left and headed to the address that the plate was registered to. It was a trailer park on the seedier side of town. “Lot of meth heads and prostitutes in this area,” Shane said. “Better call for backup ‘fore we hit this address.”

A second cop car pulled up about five minutes later. One of the cops in the car was Mike, from beer night, and Rick felt a little better getting backup from someone he knew. They made their plan quickly about who would cover the front and who would cover the back, then they went into action. They pulled up to the address, which belonged to a run-down trailer that looked completely rusted out.

Sure enough, the car that had been described was sitting right in the driveway. Rick and Shane took the front, while their backup took the rear. They pulled their weapons and banged on the front door. When no one answered, Rick nodded to Shane to pull the door. Once he did, Rick was the first in. The living room and kitchen were clear.

There was a small noise coming from the back of the trailer and the men cautiously made their way back. Soon they came upon two young men in the bathroom trying to flush a few bags of drugs. Both men wore ratty clothes and looked completely strung out. They didn’t even bother fighting the arrest, and Rick and Shane had them in the back of their cruiser within five minutes.

A quick search of the trailer produced small amounts of various drugs, as well as the money that was stolen from the convenience store. Once all the evidence had been gathered, they took the suspects back to the station and threw them in the holding cell. Rick started the paperwork as Shane called the witnesses to come in and ID the suspects.

A few officers came by and gave them pats on the back for the bust. Even the Captain came over and to talk to the men. His name was Captain Watson and he seemed like a good man to Rick. Balding with a thick white moustache, he looked like your typical Police Captain. Rick was still trying to get to know him, but that proved difficult in this station. The Captain was always busy with something.

“Good job Officers. I love seeing good police work. Shane, you pulled through like always. Rick, I’m glad to have you as a part of my force. I knew you’d do good in this town the day I hired you.” The Captain patted Rick’s shoulder and smiled before he walked away.

Rick watched him walk back into his office where he sat down at his desk to talk to someone already waiting inside. Twenty minutes later, the Captain stepped out of his office and shook the hand of the person that he was talking to. Rick glanced over and noticed that it was Old Joe who the Captain had been talking to and wondered what that was about.

“Hey Shane. What do you think Joe’s doing here?” And Rick nodded in the direction of the two older men shaking hands. Shane glanced up and shrugged.

“Don’t know. Man, I hope he ain’t complaining. ‘Cuz I got enough complaints on file. Don’t need no more.” Shane threw his hands up innocently.

Rick was curious now as the old man turned and started shuffling away from the Captain. He decided to cut him off on his way to the door. Rick got up from his chair and casually walked to the front of the station. He timed it just right so that he and Joe would get there right at the same time.

Rick saw the old man and smiled as he went through the door and held it open for Joe, trying to seem courteous. “Oh hey. You’re Joe, right? We met the other day when you had some hunters on your property.” Rick tried to sound innocent in his recognition of the other man.

“Oh yea, I ‘member. You’re the new one. It was Rick, wasn’t it?” Joe asked.

“Yes sir.” Rick nodded. “What brings you out to the station today, if I may ask?”

Joe finally made his way out the door before he answered. “Oh, I was jus’ comin’ to talk to your Captain about those same hunters. I shoulda known it’d be the Dixons. Daryl ain’t too bad, but that Merle’s a hellion. Anyway, Daryl actually came by this weekend and apologized. He even fixed up my chicken coop for me. Had holes all in the side of the hen house. Boarded it all up for me; saving me a lot of grief from critters gettin’ in there and killing my hens. So I decided to come down here and have a little talk with the Captain. We can always let one slide every now and again, right Rick?” And old Joe smiled, showing off his white dentures.

“Well, I wish everyone was as kind as you are,” Rick replied. He helped the man to this car and then went back inside. Now it made sense where Daryl was going with all that wood in the back of his truck. When he got back to his desk, the Captain was walking away from Shane, who sat in his chair with a seething expression etched across his face.

“What’s up?” Rick asked.

“Damn Captain is dropping the charges on the Dixons. What kind of shit is that?” Shane fumed.

“Yea…The old man said that Daryl apologized and helped him out at his house, and he came to talk to the Cap about it. So I figured that might happen.” Rick just shrugged it off. He figured it meant fewer charges on Daryl’s record, which was a good thing.

“That’s bullshit man. If anybody deserves those charges, it’s those two. It’s like I got hit for nothing.”

Rick had a thing or two to say about that, but he chose to keep his thoughts to himself on that matter. “I guess we can call them and tell them to come pick up their weapons we confiscated.”

“Man, fuck that. I’d rather sign that shit out myself and then go throw it in a lake somewhere. Say it got lost.” Shane scoffed at the mere idea of it. Rick had a gnawing suspicion that Shane might actually go ahead and do that too, so he started to formulate a plan that would keep Shane out of trouble and get the Dixons their property back.

When he finished all the work on the robbery, Rick looked up and saw that Shane was working on the files that he had left over from this morning. Rick figured now was the time and he quietly grabbed his empty duffle bag that he kept rolled up in the bottom drawer of his desk. He casually stood from his chair and stretched a little.

Once he figured that Shane wasn’t going to say anything to him, he walked to the evidence locker. He signed out the crossbow and the shotgun, of course without the bullets or bolts, because the police station didn’t give those back. He tried to be as inconspicuous as possible as he placed the items in his duffle and zipped it closed.

He walked back to his desk and grabbed his keys. “Welp, I think it’s quitting time for me. See you tomorrow?” Shane just nodded and continued his work. Rick walked casually for the door and made it out to his jeep. He placed the duffle in the back and slid into the driver’s side. It was just after two o’clock. Carl would be home around four, so Rick figured he had just enough time to head to the Dixon’s place and drop off what was in the duffle, maybe chat for a minute (he hoped), and make it home just in time before Carl got there. He cranked the engine and headed out towards the main road.


	9. Chapter 9

Rick pulled up to a single-story white house that was on the edge of the county. He had gotten Daryl’s address from his file and it turned out to only be about a mile from Old Joe’s house. This place definitely looked like it had seen better days. The white paint was half chipped off and there wasn’t a speck of grass to be seen around the yard.

Rick climbed out of the jeep and grabbed his duffle from the back. He walked up to the front door and went to ring the doorbell, but where there was supposed to be one, was an empty square instead. Like someone had yanked it off the doorway. He knocked on the door instead and waited while his anxiety made him start to sweat.

He really hoped it wasn’t Merle to answer the door. Rick waited a full minute and no one came to answer the knock. He knocked one more time, a little bit rougher. He waited again and again no one came. Curiosity got the better of him and he tried to glance in a window. The house was too dark inside to see anything, so he stepped off the small porch and started to walk around to the back.

Once he got halfway down the side of the house, he heard a weird sound. He couldn’t quite place it, but it got louder the further he got. Once Rick rounded the final corner of the house, he saw the cause of the noise and he froze in place as his mouth went dry. Daryl was standing by a tree stump in the backyard bringing an axe down as he chopped wood into pieces. The hunter had his shirt off and tucked into his pocket, so sweat was dripping down his tan, lean back.

Daryl was faced away from Rick, so he hadn’t noticed the officer walking up. Rick wasn’t sure what to say to get the other man’s attention, especially since he was wielding an axe. Daryl brought it down again, splitting another log into pieces. He planted the axe in the stump and leaned on it to catch his breath as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

Before Rick could say anything, the younger Dixon turned around, saw Rick, and just about jumped four feet in the air. “What the fuck!” he yelled.

“Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I didn’t mean to surprise ya!” Rick said, eyes wide and hands held in the air.

“How the fuck long ya been standing there?!”

“Just a minute. You were swinging the axe and I thought I better wait to say anything, since ya know, you were swinging an axe.” Rick shrugged.

“Well…What are you doin’ here then?” Daryl questioned. He pulled his shirt from his pocket and wiped his face with it before he put it back on. Rick felt something akin to disappointment from the loss of such a nice visual.

“Old Joe came by the station today. Talked with the Captain about you helping him out and all. Captain decided to drop the charges for you and Merle. Thought I’d come by and let you know and bring you the weapons we confiscated.” Rick handed the bag over to Daryl, who grabbed it and looked inside. Rick had to resist the small shiver that wanted to work its way up his spine from the contact his hand had made with Daryl’s during the exchange.

After looking through the bag, Daryl looked at Rick like he was sizing him up. “Don’t they just send letters to let you know about this shit? Since when did the Marion Police Department start making house calls?”

Rick looked down and realized he was still in his police uniform. “Uhhh…Well I had it on good authority that those weapons might not have been in our station by the time you got that letter.” He wiped a hand across his slightly stubbled chin as he spoke. “And I’m actually off duty. I just didn’t change before I left the station.”

Daryl gave a small nod of understanding. He looked around for a second and then back down at the bag before looking up. “Thirsty?”

Rick nodded. “Sure.”

Daryl started walking to the back door of the house. He stepped onto the back porch and pointed at some plastic chairs they had sitting near the edge. “Take a seat. Be right back,” and he stepped inside.

Rick sat down gently on a chair that looked as though it could give out any minute. He waited a moment and then Daryl came back out the same door with a glass in each hand. He had changed his shirt too, from a ratty old white one to a slightly faded, but much cleaner, black t-shirt. Rick took the glass and gave a nod of thanks as he took a sip. He couldn’t help but smile when he realized it was lemonade.

Daryl pulled a chair over and sat opposite Rick. “What’s so funny?” he questioned when he saw the smile on Rick’s face.

“Nothin’. Just never really thought you’d bring me a glass of lemonade.”

“Need something harder? Got a bottle of Jack in the kitchen,” Daryl teased.

Rick laughed. “Nah…Lemonade is just fine.”

“So…you guys catch anything, down at Belews?”

“Not too much. You were pretty spot on about that place.”

“Yea. There’s a couple places that got better fish.”

“Maybe….you can show me one day,” Rick said as he turned his head to look away. He was suddenly very aware of how alone they were right now and it was making Rick kind of nervous.

“Maybe,” Daryl nodded and took a sip of his drink.

“So why didn’t you tell me you were taking that wood to Joe’s to fix his hen house?”

“Don’t know.” Daryl shrugged. “Maybe I didn’t want ya to think I was doin’ it just so he’d do what he did.”

“Is that why you did it?”  

“No,” Daryl replied shortly. “Why didn’t ya take your wife fishing with your son?”

Rick took that to mean that Daryl assumed he had a wife because he had a son. He felt like what he was really asking was why didn’t he tell the hunter that he had a wife and son. Rick sighed and ran a hand through his hair uncomfortably. He hated telling people this part. “Because she’s dead. She died ‘bout a year ago from cancer. So now it’s just me and my son.” He waited for the pity to show in Daryl’s eyes like it did in every other person’s face when he told them the same story.

But instead the hunter just looked shame faced. “I’m….I’m sorry. Didn’t mean nothin’ by sayin’ that.” He stood up and walked to the end of the porch, trying to look anywhere but at Rick.

“It’s alright. You didn’t know. We’re working through it. That’s why we came here. For a fresh start.”

Daryl gave a short bark of laughter. “Don’t think I ever knew anyone who came here for that. Most people just leave this place.” He turned around and wandered back over to his chair.

“Well I heard about the position opening up at this station and just decided to take a chance,” Rick said with a shrug. “So far, I haven’t regretted it. I’ve met some good people.” Rick smiled after the last sentence, hoping that the hunter knew he meant him.

Daryl finished his drink and sat the glass down at his feet before he leaned back in his chair. “So why a cop?” he asked, tilting his head at Rick.

“Oh….I haven’t been asked that in long time.” Rick laughed. He sat there for a moment and thought of the answer. “Well, I was in school at the time. I was actually going for a history degree. Me and Lori had been married for a little while and she told me that she was pregnant with Carl. I was scared shitless, and her dad was a cop. He was always telling me about it and so one day I decided that it would be better for me to switch to law enforcement than finish that history degree. Pressures of fatherhood, I s’pose.”

Daryl gave a slow nod as he let the story sink in. “What do you do for a living?” Rick couldn’t help but ask the man sitting across from him.

“Uh…a few odds and ends. Whatever pays the bills, I guess. Mostly I work down at Phil’s Garage with Merle.”

“Is that where he’s at right now?”

“Yea. He ain’t usually here though. He’ll find a chick’s bed to sleep in or sleep off a hangover on a friend’s couch.” Daryl shrugged.

Rick nodded and the two men sat there in silence for a minute. Rick found himself wishing he had changed before he left the station; his belt was digging into him from the shape of the chairs. He wondered what time it was, but he didn’t want to check his phone in case Daryl took it to mean that he needed to leave. Even in silence, spending time alone with the hunter had been the best part of his day.

“So you like history then? Like going to old battlefields across the state and watching reenactments kinda shit?”

Rick chuckled and gave a slight shake of his head. “I like history, but not like that. I was more into World War I and II. The way we did combat, the tactics, the weapons, everything completely changed during that era. I could probably go on about it longer than I should.”

Daryl nodded and then his face seemed to change. He stood from his chair and opened the back door. He waved for Rick to follow him. Rick was curious so he stood and followed the hunter inside, closing the door behind him. It was just as hot inside as it was outside and Rick assumed they didn’t have any A/C since all the windows were open.

His eyes adjusted for a second as he looked around. They had stepped into the kitchen and Rick noticed how the inside of the house was in much better shape than the outside. While it wasn’t exactly spotless, Daryl had kept it decently maintained. The hunter noticed him looking around and seemed a little self-conscious. “Stop staring. It’s jus’ a house. Come on.”

The younger Dixon kept walking and Rick followed him. They walked through the kitchen and into what Rick assumed was the living room. There were a couple old couches facing an even older TV. Daryl didn’t seem like the type who stayed up to date with the latest shows. Rick stood in the middle of the room and Daryl walked over to an old fireplace. Hanging above it was a box with a glass front that looked like it had a couple guns in it.

Daryl took the box off the wall and brought it over to Rick to show him. He looked inside and almost gasped at what Daryl was showing him. “Oh man. Are those WWII handguns?” Daryl just smirked in response. He nodded his head to the couch and they walked over and sat down while the hunter placed the box on the coffee table in front of them.

He gently opened the lid and let Rick look inside while he spoke. “Yea. They were my Grandpa’s from World War II. Both Smith & Wessons. He said they each killed ‘bout a hundred Nazis but you couldn’t ever tell if he was lying or not. He told some tall tales.”

Rick leaned forward to get a closer look and suddenly felt very honored that Daryl Dixon would share this moment with him. He really wanted to pick them up, but he waited for the okay from the man sitting next to him. He looked up and met Daryl’s eyes, the blue eyes that had him from day one, and Daryl just nodded. “Go ahead.”

Rick gently picked up one of the delicate pistols from the red velvet lining it had been laying on. The gun felt so small in his hands compared to the one he carried every day on his hip. He turned it over and looked at every millimeter of the weapon he could see with his naked eye. “This is so awesome,” was all he could think to say. He heard Daryl chuckle next to him, but Rick didn’t care.

He carefully placed the small pistol back in the case and lifted the next. Both pieces were much lighter than he expected. He studied this one just as closely as the other, and once he was finished he lay it back down in its case and shut the lid.

“That was amazing man. Thank you so much for showing me that.”

Daryl shrugged. “They’ve just sat on the wall for years. Nice to show ‘em to someone who would actually appreciate ‘em.”

“Well, truly…thank you. Means a lot to me.” Rick smiled at the hunter and instinctively took his right hand and patted it on Daryl’s knee before he could stop himself. Rick realized too late what he did, and he automatically worried that it was too much contact for the hunter. He wanted to yank his hand away but it seemed glued to other man’s denim clad knee. The fabric felt rough under Rick’s fingers.

He finally looked up and saw the hunter staring at the hand. Then those blue eyes dashed to Rick’s face and locked with his own. Rick felt like the room had gotten hotter by about 10 degrees and he started blush a deep crimson. His heart had almost tripled its pace and felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest. There was so much tension in the air just from that one knee touch that Rick couldn’t take it anymore.

He quickly brought his head towards Daryl’s and their lips crashed together in a fiery kiss. Rick was so worried about Daryl’s reaction, that when the hunter actually kissed him back, he wrapped his arms around Daryl’s torso and dragged their bodies together. The kiss was fast, hot and sloppy. Rick opened his mouth and their tongues were quick to make contact. Daryl tasted like lemonade with a slight tang of tobacco.

His tongue was rough as he forced his way past Rick’s lips. Rick rubbed his hands up and down Daryl’s back while the other man kept his hands firmly planted on Rick’s shoulders, squeezing hard. Rick gave Daryl’s lower lip a small bite and the hunter gave a low growl in return. There was nothing sweet or gentle about this embrace. It was full of all the need and want Rick had been aching with for days. And apparently Daryl had been feeling the same way.

Suddenly they heard a car pull up the dirt path. They pulled their lips apart to look out the front window that sat behind the couch they were currently occupying. It was the black truck Daryl had been driving the other day. “Shit! Merle!”

The two men disentangled their bodies and Daryl picked up the box with the classic weapons inside of it. He quickly walked towards the fireplace and put it back on the wall. While he did that, Rick tried to straighten his appearance and adjusted the erection that was currently tenting his pants.

It seemed Daryl had to do the same while he faced the wall. Once both men finished making themselves halfway decent, Rick tried to return to a casual demeanor and act like he hadn’t just had a hot make-out session with the younger Dixon. Daryl leaned against the corner of the wall that led to the kitchen, trying to look casual as well.

Merle had walked around to the back of the house, and pulled the back door open. “Daryl! Where you at?” he yelled, before he saw the two men in the living room. Once he spotted them, he stopped short with a surprised look on his face. “Well now. What do we have here?”

“Rick was just droppin’ off your shotgun and my bow.” Daryl nodded towards the duffle he had sat on the kitchen table. “Old Joe got them to drop the charges…” Daryl didn’t bother to mention the reason why.

Merle looked through the duffle as he spoke. “Well wasn’t that nice of….Rick.” He put emphasis on the name. Merle glanced at Daryl and they seemed to have a conversation just in the looks they were giving one another.

“Nah…it was nothing. Well I gotta get going. Glad all this worked out.” Rick felt way out of his depth right now. He stood from the couch and made his way to the back door. Merle made it clear he wasn’t moving from his spot so Rick gave him a quick nod and walked around him to get to the door. He heard Daryl following him out.

They walked around the house in a quick, silent state. Once they got to the side, away from any windows, Rick felt a hand grab onto his bicep and turn him around. Daryl backed him up against the old, chipped siding and brought his lips to the officer’s one more time. This kiss wasn’t as needy and lust filled as before, but Rick could still feel desire emanate from the other man’s body. He fisted the sides of Daryl’s shirt as their tongues connected one more brief time.

Daryl pulled away and looked into Rick’s face. “Come back tomorrow?”

“I get off at five. He won’t show up?” And Rick nodded behind him, to the elder Dixon still in the house. Daryl shook his head and brought their lips together for one last kiss. He let go of Rick’s shoulders and backed up, letting the other man walk towards his jeep. Rick glanced behind him to see Daryl walk back behind the house. He climbed in the driver’s seat and cranked the engine. As he pulled out, he noticed Merle watching him through the front window and a slight chill went up his spine.


	10. Chapter 10

Rick drove home in a daze, still trying to process what happened. When he pulled into his driveway, he rubbed a hand over his lips. They still tingled from the last kiss Daryl had given him. He glanced down at the clock on his radio and was surprised to find that he still had about 20 minutes until Carl would get home. He had completely lost track of time while he had been with Daryl. So much had happened in such a short amount of time.

He walked inside his empty house and went back to his bedroom. He peeled his police uniform off and without even bothering to lay down on the bed, he started to jerk himself off. The images of the searing hot embrace they had shared flowed through his mind and in no time Rick was grunting as he spilled into his palm. He used his undershirt he had worn that day to clean himself up and he quickly dressed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Just as he sat down on the couch and flicked the TV on, Carl walked through the front door. Rick was thankful for the good timing today had provided. “Hey. How was your day?” Rick asked. Carl flung his backpack into a chair and plopped down on the other end of the couch with a small sigh.

“Fine, I guess. You?”

“Pretty good. Really good actually. Hey, I get off at five tomorrow but someone asked me to help them out with something after work. I should be back early though. You good with that?”

“Who are you helping?” Carl asked skeptically.

“Uh…that guy you saw me talking to before we went fishing. Daryl. He needs help moving some stuff around.” Rick watched the TV as he talked, not wanting to look his son in the eye as he stretched the truth a bit.

“Alright. I guess.” Carl had a look on his face like he knew that wasn’t the whole story, but he chose not to question Rick any further. They spent the rest of the night watching TV. Rick made spaghetti for dinner while Carl did his homework. Afterwards, Rick felt exhausted so he headed to bed while Carl surfed the internet.

The next day, Rick walked into the station for his shift and sat down at his desk. Shane was there before him for once, but just nodded at him when Rick said, “Good morning.” Once they were in the cruiser, Shane seemed short with Rick, but they had plenty of calls from dispatch to keep them busy. While they ate lunch in their car, Shane was still pretty silent. Rick didn’t bother to ask why; his mind was on other things. Mainly how much he couldn’t wait to get off work.

“I know what you did,” Shane said, breaking into Rick’s daydream.

“What?”

“I know what you did. I saw the evidence log. You signed them out.” Shane gave Rick a hard look as he said the words. He balled up his food wrapper and threw it into the floor board.

Rick had to resist letting a groan escape his mouth. He’d hoped Shane would have forgotten all about it, but of course that hadn’t happened. “Look. I had a reason.”

“Well what the hell could that reason be? ‘Cause it sure as shit better be a good one. Better than wanting to bow down and hand those fuckers back weapons that they don’t deserve.” Shane was getting irate now.

“Shane, just listen. It was their property. We had to give it back. If anyone had found out it was you that had gotten rid of it; it would have been both our asses on the line.” Rick tried to maintain a level voice as he spoke.

“Bullshit! Who woulda been lookin’? You new here, Grimes. You gotta learn the way we do things in this town. And we do things the right way here. We don’t go by some stupid rule they taught you years ago. The Dixons are on the wrong side of the law, and sometimes we gotta be the ones to teach them a lesson.”

“I was doing things the right way!” Rick yelled as he slapped a hand on his steering wheel. He was fed up. “And if I follow a rulebook, then that shouldn’t make a bit of damn difference to you.”

Shane took on a resigned expression. “Well you do that then, Grimes. But don’t expect to make too many friends in this station if you do.”

The rest of the day dragged on in an uncomfortable silence. Calls from dispatch slowed and they sat in their cruiser for most of the afternoon. They finally made their way back to the station and Rick went to the locker room to change. He didn’t see much need in meeting Daryl in his uniform again. He stopped by his desk to grab a couple things and Shane didn’t even bother to give him a simple “Goodbye” as he left the station.

Rick climbed into the jeep and drove to Daryl’s place, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. On the way, he pulled out his cell phone and called the house. When Carl finally answered, he had a short conversation with him about his day and made sure he had something to eat. He assured him he would be home at a reasonable time and hung up as he pulled onto the dirt driveway that led to Daryl’s house.

Once he got closer, he saw the hunter in the back next to a motorcycle with some tools scattered on the ground. Daryl stood up once he heard Rick pulling in and he pointed to the small garage behind him that had the doors swung open. He must have had the bike in there yesterday. Rick pulled the jeep into the small building, really just big enough to hold the vehicle, and he wiggled out the door. When he stepped out of the garage, Daryl came up and shut the doors behind him, enclosing the jeep inside.

Rick understood now that it was a precaution in case they got surprised again today. He walked over to the motorcycle Daryl had been working on. Rick didn’t know much about bikes, but this one looked pretty nice. It obviously wasn’t a newer bike, but had a sleek, classic look to it that somehow matched Daryl. “Like the bike.”

“Thanks. Want a beer?” Daryl asked as he wiped his hands off on his handkerchief. Rick nodded and Daryl indicated for Rick to follow him inside. They stepped into the kitchen and Daryl grabbed two beers out of the fridge, popping them open on the edge of the counter. Rick took a sip of his while the other man leaned against the counter, watching him.

Rick started to feel a little bit nervous. “So…how long you ridden that?” he asked, nodding his head towards the bike outside.

“Since I was ‘bout 16. It was my dad’s. Merle was never too big on bikes, so I got it. Fixed it up as best I could. Thing breaks down on me more than I can ride it, but when it runs, it’s perfect.”

Rick smiled as he watched the hunter talk about the bike. It seemed like something that he really loved. “Never really been on one. What’s it like?”

“Oh man….Freedom. Nothin’ feels better than riding a bike down a long road and the sun’s shinin’ down on ya, wind blowin’ like crazy.”

Daryl went quiet after that, so Rick asked something that had been at the back of his mind today. “So…everything turn out okay….with Merle?” Daryl’s face seemed to change at the question.

“Yea. S’fine. Got his shotgun back, so he was happy.”

“Didn’t look too happy when I pulled out yesterday.”

“Nah…that’s just how he is ‘round cops. Don’t take too kindly to them. Course I never did either…not ‘til you…” Daryl trailed off and his face turned a little red.

“No chance of him today, then?”

Daryl sat his beer down after a sip and slowly leaned towards Rick. He wrapped a finger around one of Rick’s belt loops and pulled the other man towards him. “Nah…not today,” he replied in a low, deep voice.

Rick ran his hand up Daryl’s arms and rested them on his shoulders. He slowly brought his lips towards the hunter’s and they fell into a slow, sensual kiss. With an assurance of no interruptions, Rick wanted to take his time and savor every moment with this man. He parted his lips and granted Daryl’s tongue entrance. They slowly lapped at each other and Rick brought a hand up to cup the hunter’s face.

Daryl’s hands worked up and down Rick’s back, fisting the fabric of his shirt until he reached one hand down and squeezed Rick’s ass. Rick wasn’t expecting the grab and it turned him on even more. He moved from Daryl’s mouth and worked small kisses down his jawline. He reached the hunter’s ear and darted a tongue in quickly, then gave it a small nibble. Daryl let a small groan escape his lips and he put both hands on Rick’s ass, squeezing tight and grinding their hips together.

Rick could feel the bulge in Daryl’s pants rub against his own and he loved the sensation. He ran a hand through the hunter’s hair and used it to pull his head back a little, exposing his neck better. Rick was starting to get worked up so instead of small kisses, he worked little bites, sucks, and licks up and down Daryl’s neck. The younger Dixon started breathing a little faster and kept one hand on Rick’s ass, slowly grinding their hips together, while he took another hand and slipped it under the back of Rick’s shirt, rubbing his hand over the bare flesh.

Daryl seemed to decide something as he pushed his hips into Rick, effectively pulling the man off of him. Rick wanted to protest but the hunter just smirked at him as he took his beer with one hand and grabbed Rick’s hand with the other. He pulled him through the kitchen and Rick grabbed his own beer at the last second as he was led to the back of the house.

They walked down a short hallway to the last door on the left. It was cracked open so Daryl used his foot to nudge it the rest of the way. As they stepped inside, Rick realized it was Daryl’s bedroom. It was sparsely decorated, which Rick expected, but for the most part it was pretty clean. Daryl sat his beer down on the bedside table and pulled his boots and socks off. Rick did the same, only leaving his socks on.

Daryl shut the door and walked up to Rick. He placed his hands on Rick’s hips and then slowly backed up to the bed. They both lay down together on their sides and started kissing again. This kissing was a little more feverish than before now that they were both worked up. Hands were under shirts as kisses and bites were placed on lips, jaws, ears, and necks. Daryl worked his way on top of Rick and started to roll his hips into the other man’s.

Rick felt Daryl’s massive erection work into his hip and he decided that all this clothing was too much. He lifted his upper body, forcing Daryl to sit up and he worked his own shirt off. Daryl saw what he was doing and lifted his shirt over his head and threw it on the floor. Rick ran his hands up and down Daryl’s chest and stomach, relishing the smooth, tan skin. He couldn’t help but think this man was beautiful.

His hands dropped to the waistband of the hunter’s jeans and he tried to unbutton them with shaky hands. Daryl gave a small smile and placed his own hands over Rick’s, holding him steady. He leaned down and gave him a quick kiss before he stood up off the bed and unbuttoned his own pants, quickly pulling them down and kicking them to the side. He stood before Rick completely naked and the air caught in Rick’s throat.

He’d never thought he’d want a man this much, but seeing Daryl completely bare before him, he knew he’d do anything to please him. Daryl’s face turned a little shy once he saw Rick’s reaction and he climbed back on the bed, laying Rick back down. He ran his hands over Rick’s hairy chest and stomach and then reached his pants. Daryl’s hands were a little shaky too and Rick felt slight relief knowing he wasn’t the only nervous one. He still managed to undo Rick’s pants and pulled them down along with his underwear.

Rick watched Daryl’s face change and saw that he gripped his fists tight, like he was trying to keep from losing control while he looked at Rick’s body for the first time. He lay back down on top of Rick and they started to kiss again as Daryl brought their bodies together. When their stiff erections touched, Rick’s hips uncontrollably lifted at the contact and he groaned into Daryl’s mouth.

Daryl grabbed Rick’s hands and brought them over their heads, holding them in place with his own. They continued to kiss as Daryl brought their hips together again and again, giving Rick the sweetest friction against his hard cock. He was worried he wasn’t going to last long like this, so he broke the kiss and whispered, “Daryl…”

The hunter seemed to understand and slowed his movements. He brought their hands down and started to slowly kiss his way down Rick’s body. First the neck and then he went to his chest, giving Rick a slow bite on his nipple which elicited a gasp and a small smile from Rick. Gradually he kissed down his stomach and made his way to Rick’s hard length, which practically begged for attention.

Rick felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest as Daryl took a hand and wrapped it around him. The hunter had a firm grip and he worked his hand up and down a few times which made Rick twist the sheets and a small moan work past his lips. Daryl smiled and made sure their eyes were locked as he lowered his mouth onto Rick.

His mouth felt like heaven, a mixture of warm and wet that sent a shiver up Rick’s spine. Daryl rolled his tongue around the head of his cock and Rick couldn’t stop himself from thrusting his hips. He then took him all the way into his mouth, almost to the base, and Rick let out a loud moan. The hunter started to set a pace, working up and down the stiff length with a mixture of licking and sucking and using a hand to rub what his mouth couldn’t get.

Within minutes, Daryl had Rick close to his peak. Rick gripped Daryl’s free hand tight and when Daryl met his eyes, Rick nodded to let him know he was close. The hunter used that as a go ahead to pick up his pace and suck a little harder. Only seconds later, Rick fisted the sheet and groaned through gritted teeth, “Oh fuck…Oh Daryl. Oh fuck yes…” as he spilled into Daryl’s mouth.

He felt the hunter swallow as much as he could and then he lifted his head from Rick’s cock and came back up to give him a deep kiss. Rick could taste himself on Daryl’s tongue and thought how incredibly erotic that was. He hugged the hunter tight to him as he tried to catch his breath.

Daryl turned on his side and kissed Rick’s neck and worked his own stiff cock against Rick’s hip. Rick knew what he wanted and smirked as he turned and pushed Daryl onto his back. He kissed his way down Daryl’s body the same way that he had done to him. Once he got to Daryl’s lengthy cock, he looked up in the hunter’s eyes and a small amount of apprehension filled him. “I’ve….uh…I’ve never really done this before…” he told the hunter.

“S’okay. You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” and he ran a thumb against Rick’s cheek.

“Oh no! I want to. I just don’t know if I’ll be any good…”

“Are you kiddin’? Jus’ the thought of them pretty lips around me is enough to get me half way there.” Rick smiled at that. “Just go slow. Start with your hand.”

Rick did as he was told and used his hand to stroke Daryl’s cock. He’d jerked himself off a million times so this wasn’t the hard part. He worked his hand from the base to the tip. Daryl seemed to enjoy that enough with the way he let a satisfied sigh pass his lips. Rick decided he wanted to taste him so he lowered his lips and took the head into his mouth. Daryl groaned and lifted his hips at the contact, which made Rick smile knowing he had the ability to give him this pleasure.

A drop of pre-cum worked its way up and Rick tasted it against his tongue. It wasn’t quite as salty as he thought it would be. He took Daryl further into his mouth and gave a small suck. He lifted his head back up and then down again, working his tongue against the cock in his mouth.

“Mmmmm…Little less teeth.”

Rick blushed a little and lifted up. “Sorry,” he mumbled and went back to work, trying to cover his teeth a little better. He thought of how Daryl had sucked him and jerked him at the same time and how amazing that had felt and tried to do the same. He started to stroke him with his hand while he teased the head of his cock with his tongue; Daryl arched his back and groaned.

“Oh yea….Jus’ like that.” He ran a hand through Rick’s hair and urged him to go faster. Rick sensed what he wanted and picked up his pace. He lapped eagerly at the rigid length as he heard Daryl say, “Fuck…Don’t stop.” Rick maintained his speed and he felt Daryl’s entire body start to tense up. The hunter looked up and met Rick’s eyes, hand still gripping Rick’s hair. Suddenly Rick felt Daryl’s cock spurt into his mouth and Daryl threw his head back with a loud moan as he came.

Rick swallowed the slightly funky taste and climbed his way back up to Daryl. He lay on his side watching the hunter catch his breath. He knew getting the man to come was good, but he wanted to make sure that Daryl had enjoyed it. He felt like a teenage boy asking the girl if their first time was any good. Rick bit his lip and asked, “Was it okay?”

Daryl looked over at him and let out a genuine laugh. He pushed Rick onto his back and put a kiss to his lips. “It was better ‘an okay. You underestimate yourself, Officer.” And he kissed him again. Once he pulled away, they laid on their sides facing one another with their legs intertwined. Rick traced some of the tattoos on Daryl’s torso with his finger. Rick thought to himself that next time he needed to kiss each tattoo that he could find.

“So….you’ve been with a man before?” Rick asked with curiosity.

Daryl’s mood seemed to shift and he turned to lay on his back with his hands behind his head, like he didn’t want to look at Rick while he said this. “Yea…not many though. Nothing serious since the first one in high school.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Merle. He caught us messin’ around and made me watch while he beat the kid up. Wouldn’t let me take ‘im to the hospital. After he left, never saw him again. Since that, there ain’t been nobody special.” Daryl’s face turned stoic as he spoke. He turned to look at the wall afterwards, like he was too shamefaced to look Rick in the eye.

Rick brought a hand to his chin and turned his head to face him. He whispered, “I’m sorry that happened,” and gave Daryl a light kiss.

“What about you? Been with any guys, Officer?” Daryl lightly teased.

“No. Never. Not even a kiss.” Rick felt embarrassed at the confession. “Only women.”

“What’s changed?”

“I don’t know how to explain it. There was something….something about you. The first moment I saw you….”

“What? That day out at Joe’s?”

“Yea. As soon as you stepped from the brush. As soon as I caught your eyes in my rearview mirror. It was like the life had been cut back on inside of me.” Now Rick felt really embarrassed. He hadn’t meant to bare his soul to the hunter on their first time in bed.

But Daryl turned on his side and brought Rick in close. He wrapped his arms around him and they fell into a deep, breathless kiss. When they broke apart, Rick couldn’t help but smile. “When can I see you again?” he asked the hunter.

“Mmmmm…not sure. Tomorrow I gotta go huntin’ with Merle.”

“I’m off Thursday since I have to work Saturday.”

“Gotta work at the garage on Thursday, but I get off at 3:30”

“Carl will be home by four. I’ve missed too much time with him this week already,” Rick replied, slightly disappointed.

“What if I came by at 4:30 and we go fishing?” Daryl bit his lip nervously after he asked that.

“You wanna take me and my son fishing?” Rick asked, a slow smile working its way across his lips.

“Well, I said I’d show you a better spot.”

“Ok. Let me ask him and I’ll let you know.” The thought of Daryl Dixon wanting to spend time with him and his son made Rick happier than he thought possible. He grinned and climbed on top of Daryl again, planting kisses in whatever spot he could find.

Things were starting to get heated again when they heard the back door open. They both jumped up and grabbed Rick’s clothes off the floor. They looked around for a second and then Daryl pointed. “The closet!” Rick stepped inside the cramped space and Daryl shut the door just enough to leave a crack. The hunter was still naked so he jumped back in bed and covered himself with a blanket. He realized that there were still two beer bottles on the nightstand, so he grabbed one and quickly slid it behind the bed. Just as he brought his arm back up, his bedroom door flung open.

“Baby bro. What the hell you doin?” Merle asked as he ambled into the room. Rick watched the scene from what he could see through the crack in the door.

“Nothing man. The hell you doin’ here? Thought you were workin’ late tonight?”

“Aw that sad sack of shit, Phil, sent me home. Said I smelled like liquor. Figured I’d come here and we’d grab the camping gear and get a head start on the hunt.” Merle kicked at the blanket and Daryl pulled it around him a little tighter. “Damn, Daryl. You gotta get all the way naked to jerk off?”

Merle glanced around the room and Rick’s heart almost stopped when he casually walked towards the closet. “The fuck’s it to you?” Daryl yelled, desperate to get his brother’s attention.

Merle held up his hands like he was innocent. “Hey, I ain’t sayin’ nothing. Let’s go man.”

“Wanna get the fuck out so I can put some damn clothes on?”

“Best watch that tone, baby bro. I’ll take ya out if I have to,” and he threw his hands up in a mock boxing style. Daryl picked up a pillow and threw it at him before Merle finally left. Daryl jumped up and slammed the door closed. He grabbed his clothes and glanced at the door one more time before he opened the closet door.

Rick must have looked silly standing in a cramped closet completely naked with his clothes piled in his hands because Daryl smirked when he opened the door. As they both quickly dressed, Daryl said, “Wait until we leave. Don’t worry ‘bout locking the house. Just shut the garage door behind you.” Rick nodded in reply.

Daryl pushed Rick against the wall and they shared a brief, but sultry kiss. Once they separated, Rick asked, “If Carl’s okay with it, see you Thursday night?” This time Daryl nodded in reply and he walked towards his bedroom door. He cracked it first and checked the hallway before he stepped out. He winked at Rick and quickly shut the door behind him.

Rick carefully checked out the window and waited while they loaded up their truck. About 20 minutes later, they pulled out onto the dirt path and left the house. Rick carefully stepped from Daryl’s bedroom and quickly made his way out the back door. He opened the garage doors and pulled the jeep out. He stepped out and shut the doors behind him, quickly returning to his vehicle. Rick drove home in a good mood and although they had had another close call, he couldn’t wait to see Daryl again. He just hoped Carl would be willing to cooperate.


	11. Chapter 11

Rick walked into the house just after seven to find his son lying on the couch, flipping through TV channels. He plopped down in the armchair next to the sofa and flipped through the mail that was on the coffee table. It was mostly junk mail and Rick ripped it up as he read through it.

“So how was your day?” Rick asked his lethargic looking son.

“Good. Watched a movie in history.”

“What’d ya watch?” Rick hated it when they showed Carl movies in school, but he knew that sometimes it was the only way to get through to kids today.

“Saving Private Ryan. Woulda been better if he hadn’t kept pausing it to explain things every five minutes though.”

Rick laughed at that. “Did you eat?”

“Not yet.”

“You want a sandwich then? I’m gonna make one.” Rick got up to walk to the kitchen. He heard a “Sure,” from behind him and went ahead and made two. He walked back into the living room with two plates and gave one to Carl, who had found the energy to sit up.

“So how was helping your friend?”

Images of him and Daryl kissing on the bed and their naked bodies writhing flashed through his mind as he thought of an answer. “Good…..just helped him move…some furniture. Some stuff is a two man job.” Rick took a big bite of his sandwich to keep his mouth busy so he wouldn’t say anything idiotic. He didn’t know how to lie to his son, at least not well.

“So you know him through the station? Is he a cop?”

Rick swallowed his big bite with a wince. “Uhhh…yea I know him through the station, but he’s not a cop. He just spends a lot of time there.”

“Doing what?”

“Fixing things.” Rick tried to change the subject. “So…uh…he actually offered to show us a better fishing spot on Thursday, after you get home from school. He does a lot of hunting and fishing so he knows some good places. You wanna go?”

Carl shrugged in response and made an indifferent face. Rick almost held his breath as he waited for his son to speak. “I don’t know. It’s up to you, I guess.”

“Well I think it could be fun. Good way to get out of the house. We’ll only go if you want to.”

His son sighed. “Okay. I’ll go.”

Rick finally let go of the breath that he’d been holding. “Alright then. It’s settled.” Rick knew he was smiling a little too big, but he couldn’t help it. Carl squinted his eyes at him and before Rick could let his son ask anything, he grabbed their empty plates and went back to the kitchen. He put the plates in the dishwasher with a little too much vigor and he ended up jumping up and down a little bit to release some of the excited energy he felt. Afterwards, he walked back to the living room a little calmer than before and they finished watching a show that had started while they were eating.

The next morning, Rick walked into the station in a great mood. He’d completely forgotten about the tension between him and Shane, but it all came rushing back when he sat at his desk and Shane barely acknowledged him. Rick knew he needed to make things right with his partner. This was the man who he worked with every day, a man who he needed to be able to trust his life with.

“Shane, can we talk?”

Shane looked up from his desk and scratched his chin, trying to seem casual. He leaned back in his chair and looked around. “Sure, man. Shoot.”

“I’m really sorry about the misunderstanding we had yesterday. You’re right. I shoulda told you what I was planning. But I really only did it because I thought it was the best move. If I had known it was gonna make you this upset, man, I would have never done it.” Rick hated apologizing for doing the right thing, but he was still low man on the totem pole here and he didn’t want to risk this job.

Shane nodded his head slowly as he thought about Rick’s apology. “Alright man. I don’t see any reason not to let this one slide. But you gotta keep me informed, from here on out.” He smacked one hand into the other, letting Rick know he means business.

“You got it,” Rick nodded. “Ready to head out?”

“Hell yea. This desk’s making me twitchy. Let’s go.”

They both headed to the cruiser and Shane jumped in the driver’s seat. The morning started off slow as they drove around their patrol area. They caught a few traffic violations and doled out some tickets, but by the time lunch rolled around they were getting antsy in the car. They went to the local diner that Rick had taken Carl to the other day and ate at the counter.

The same red-headed waitress served them, and she flashed Rick even more smiles when she saw him in his uniform. “Damn man. Raggedy-Ann’s got a hard-on for you, Grimes,” Shane said, when she walked away after giving them yet another refill. Rick’s drink hadn’t dipped below the half-way point since they sat down.

“Yea? Hadn’t noticed.” Rick tried to brush off the comment and change the subject, but Shane didn’t seem to take the hint.

“Hell. If you ain’t gonna make use of that, then I might as well give it a shot.”

“Be my guest, man.”

“What? Don’t like red-heads?” Shane asked, giving him a curious look.

“Uh…not particularly.” Rick went back to his food. He could only imagine Shane’s reaction if he told him he preferred them lean, tan, and with shaggy brown hair. Not to mention a long, hard cock.

“Your loss, man.” The next time the waitress walked by, Shane stopped her and talked her up for a full five minutes before they got a call on the radio. Rick paid for lunch while Shane got the details and they headed back out to the car. “Looks like we got another frequent flyer. Ronnie Rose. He’s an old drunk who’s seen plenty of time in our holding cell. Causing a disturbance down at the bowling alley.”

Shane turned on the sirens and they quickly made their way over. As they pulled into the parking lot, quite a few people were running from the building, their faces distraught. Both officers jumped out and a few civilians pointed for them to go inside. They quickly ran past the doors and saw a few people hiding behind counters and tables.

As they got closer, Rick saw the man that Shane was talking about running between lanes, yelling loudly. A lot of people were crouched behind ball returns or running to the counters for more cover. Both men soon saw why. Ronnie was brandishing a pistol and waving it in the air as he yelled. The man was clearly inebriated and severely agitated. Over what, Rick didn’t know.

Shane and Rick both pulled out their weapons crouched down near a row of chairs. Shane nodded to Rick to take lead. Rick let his police instinct take over and he stood from behind the chairs and shouted, “Sir, put your weapon down now!”

The crazed man squinted at Rick, like he could barely see him. “Who the fuck are you?” he slurred.

“Sir, I’m an officer of the Marion PD. I’m going to need you to put your weapon down now and step away from it. Get on your knees and put your hands behind your head.” Rick looked down and Shane nodded that he was going to the other set of chairs a few feet away so they could cover the distance in case he decided to make a run for it. Rick maintained his stance, gun aimed at the suspect, while Shane moved.

The man looked like he could care less what Rick had to say. “Fuck you!” he yelled in Rick’s direction. “Fuck you! Fuck my ex-wife! Fuck this shitty town full of shitty people!”

Shane stood from his new vantage point, gun raised, and said, “C’mon Ronnie. Drop the gun! You don’t wanna do this. You got some scared people in here.”

Ronnie looked from Rick to Shane for a minute, a mix of emotions crossing his face. Finally, he settled on anger and he turned towards Shane and raised his pistol. Rick did what he was trained to do when a person raised a weapon; he fired his own.

He hit the man straight in the chest and he fell to the ground. Both officers ran over and Shane kicked the gun away. Rick got on his knees and held a hand over the wound on the man’s chest. It was pointless though, within seconds he had bled out and the light faded from his eyes. Rick had only ever had to fire his weapon, and actually hit someone, maybe a handful of times in his many years on the force.

His head clouded as he realized he had taken the man’s life. He felt a hand on his back pulling him up from the ground and when he looked up he saw Shane standing next to him, along with Mike and a couple other officers. Someone must have called for backup.

“Hey man. Don’t feel bad. I checked the gun. He had one in the chamber. There’s no doubt he would have shot that gun at me.” Shane patted Rick’s shoulder, looking him in the eye, trying to reassure him.

Rick looked down at his hands and saw that they were covered in the man’s blood. “I…uh…I think I’ll go wash up.” Shane nodded but stopped Rick as he started to walk away.

“They’re….They’re gonna need your gun man. You know how it is.” Rick nodded in understanding and handed his pistol to Shane. He walked to the bathroom of the bowling alley. Most people stepped out of his way, keeping their distance from the man with blood on his hands, but a few older men patted him on the back.

He stepped into the small, one stall restroom and scrubbed at his hands as best he could, trying to get every speck of blood out from under his fingernails. Once he finished, he leaned against the sink and stared at himself in the mirror. This was the second time he had killed a man in the line of duty. The first time was six years ago during a bank robbery. His squad car was first on the scene and had caught the two robbers off guard. As the men tried to make their way to the getaway car, they started shooting.

Rick and his partner returned fire. Rick had hit and killed his target, while his partner only wounded the other. That first time had really shook Rick up and he felt the same way now. He knew he was only doing his job and seeing to the safety of his town, but it never felt right to take a life. He splashed some water on his face and wiped it off with a paper towel.

Once he felt like he had gotten a grip on himself, he stepped back out to the bowling alley. The dead man had already been zipped up in a bag by the Medical Examiner, and all the officers were talking to witnesses, writing down statements. Shane saw Rick walking up just as he finished with his witness.

“Hey man. Captain wants us back at the station. Wants to talk. Get our statements.”

“Okay. Let’s head out.” Rick wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible.

They rode back to the station in silence. Rick didn’t feel much like talking. He just watched the scenery go by as they rode down the road. Once they got to the station, as they walked in the front doors, all the officers inside came up and slapped Rick on the back. Apparently word of the incident had already made its way around to every officer.

Rick tried to take it all in stride and realize that they weren’t congratulating him on killing a man, but on saving a lot of innocent people. The Captain leaned out of his office doorway and waved both men in. They sat down in the squeaky plastic chairs while the Captain took his spot behind his desk.

“That was some good police work gentlemen. You saved a lot of lives today.”

“Thank you, sir,” they both replied.

“Tell me what happened.”

Rick and Shane went through the story together, giving the Captain every detail. The Captain nodded and asked a few questions. Once everything had been answered and they covered all the angles, the room was silent.

“Well, it looks like everything was done by the book. I hate that a man lost his life today, but those are the consequences of his actions. You okay with everything, Grimes?”

“Yes, sir. I do hate how things ended, but it had to be done.”

“Agreed. You’re off tomorrow right?” Rick nodded at his Captain. “Think you’ll need any more time than that?”

“Oh, no. I should be fine. I do best when I stay busy.”

“I do too. So, both y’all write your statements down and give ‘em to me. Then y’all can go home for the day.” Both officers nodded at their captain and left his office. They went back to their desks and wrote down everything that they had just told their superior. After the statements were deposited into the Captain’s hand, they grabbed their stuff to get ready to head home. It was almost four o’clock.

“Hey man. You wanna get a beer with the guys tonight? Might help shake things off,” Shane asked Rick.

“Nah…I think I’ll head home. Spend some time with my son. But I’ll catch you next time.”

“Alright. And hey. Thanks for today. He really woulda taken that shot at me if you hadn’t been as quick as you were.” Shane had a sincere look in his eyes, and Rick knew that he meant what he said.

“Anytime.”

Rick pulled into his driveway just after four. He walked inside and sprawled out on the couch with a big sigh. Carl walked out from the hallway and looked surprised to see his dad. “You’re home early. What’s wrong?” He must have been able to tell something had happened from the expression on his father’s face.

Rick sat up slowly and motioned for Carl to sit down in the armchair. His son sat down and Rick explained what happened that day. He didn’t go into too much detail, but Carl got the gist of it and they sat in silence for a moment afterwards.

“You had to do it, right?”

“Yea…there was no getting around it. He could have hurt a lot of people. But it’s still taking a man’s life,” Rick told his son.

“I know that. But it’s your job to protect people. And that’s what you did. I know it’s serious to kill someone, but you saved a bunch of others. I know it’s important to you to think about what you did, but I hope you don’t think about it too long. You’re a good man, Dad.”

The corner of Rick’s mouth turned up at the last sentence and he leaned over and wrapped an arm around his son’s shoulder. He brought their foreheads together as he spoke. “You know, I keep forgetting how much older you’re getting. But it’s moments like this that make me realize it. I love you, son.”

“I love you, too.” Carl smiled and rolled his eyes at the intimate father-son moment. He pulled out of his father’s arms and went into the kitchen to open the fridge. “What’s for dinner?” he called from the other room.

Rick sighed and chuckled as he realized that some things never change. “Let’s just order something!”


	12. Chapter 12

Rick tossed and turned all night long. The incident from that day kept playing over and over in his head. The yelling, the look on the man’s face, the gunshot, the blood on his hands. The images kept repeating and Rick was almost begging for his mind to forget it all. What he really wanted was to see Daryl. Tell him what happened. Get comfort from him that he couldn’t get from anyone else.

But he didn’t even have a cell phone number for him. Rick realized that all this had happened so quick, and there was still a lot that he didn’t know about the man that was Daryl Dixon. Even so, that still didn’t change the feelings that he had for him, feelings that grew bigger each day. Finally, a little after 3 a.m., Rick dozed off.

He didn’t end up waking until about ten the next morning. Carl must have figured he needed the sleep and made an effort to get ready quietly. Rick dragged himself from the bed and went into the kitchen. His son had even made coffee for him and left him a note. It read:

“Dad, take it easy today. Don’t forget about fishing tonight. See you later. Carl.”

Rick smiled at the note and then remembered he needed to tell Daryl that his son had agreed to fishing. Rick thought for a second of how to contact him, and figured the easiest way would be to call the garage he worked at. He sat at the table and drank his coffee while he looked up the number and dialed it. Rick actually felt a bit nervous calling the hunter at work.

“Phil’s Garage,” a deep, gruff voice answered. Definitely not Daryl.

“Uh…Is Daryl Dixon there?” Rick asked with only a slight shake to his voice.

“Hang on.” The person on the other end sounded irritated. About a minute later, a familiar voice picked up.

“Yea. This is Daryl.”

“Hey. It’s Rick.”

“Oh hey.”

“I didn’t know how else to contact you. But I was…uh…wondering about the fishing thing tonight. Carl said yes. Well he said I guess, but that’s Carl speak for yes.” Rick shoved a hand over his mouth to stop himself from babbling on anymore.

“Yea. Okay. 4:30 right?” Daryl kept his answers short, like someone on the other end was listening to him talk.

“Yea. That’ll be good.”

Daryl’s voice suddenly got quieter. “Hey, you okay? I heard ‘bout the bowling alley.”

Rick bit his lip in frustration and sighed. He hadn’t wanted Daryl to hear about that from someone else, but it seemed inevitable in this small town. “Uh…I’m okay, I guess. It wasn’t a normal day to say the least…”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it. Old Ron was a prick. Probably won’t even be anybody at his funeral.”

“I s’pose not. But that doesn’t really make me feel much better. See you tonight then?” Rick was tired of this subject already.

“Yea. Address?” After Rick gave him the address, the line went dead and Rick sat his phone down. Even though their phone conversation hadn’t ended on the happiest of notes, he was still excited to see the hunter tonight.

Rick decided to throw his running clothes on and go for a jog. Since he had the time today, he extended his route and ran for at least an hour. Once he got back home, he did his set of push-ups and sit-ups while he watched the news. A story about yesterday’s incident came on mid-sit-up and Rick stopped for a second to listen.

“An officer shot a man yesterday at the Marion Bowling Lanes after the man brandished a weapon and threatened bowling alley patrons and employees. Eyewitnesses say the man started acting erratic and pulled a gun, eventually pointing it at the officers on scene who then had to shoot the man. He was reported dead by the Medical Examiner.”

The blonde newswoman seemed so matter-of-fact as she told the story. Rick could never understand how neutral reporters could be, talking about the most tragic stories on the air. He cut the TV off and jumped in the shower. Once he was all clean and shaved, he got dressed. He knew he was starting to get nervous when it took him about 10 minutes to pick out which shirt to wear. Like Daryl would even care.

He still had a couple hours to kill, so he kicked back on the couch and flipped through channels, finally settling on some action movie he’d seen three times already. Right around four, Carl walked through the door and tossed his book bag down. “Hey Dad.”

“Hey son.”

“How was your day? Did you take it easy?”

“I did. It was pretty good. Worked out and watched TV. Nothing too strenuous, I promise. How was yours?”

“Interesting. Especially when everyone knows that your dad’s the one who shot that guy at the bowling alley.”

Rick grimaced at that. He never wanted his work life to affect Carl. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t even think about that happening.”

“It’s fine. Most people thought it was cool. The ones who didn’t, well they didn’t even bother to say anything. I’m sure I’ll make it another day,” he finished sarcastically.

Rick picked up a throw pillow and tossed it at his son. “Yea, yea, yea. You ready to go fishing? Daryl should be here in a few.”

“Sure. Call me when he gets here,” and Carl slipped off to his room. Rick stayed on the couch tapping his foot nervously. He kept flipping through the channels on the TV, but he wasn’t really paying attention to anything. Finally, about 10 minutes later, Rick heard a motorcycle coming up his street.

He practically jumped off the couch and peeked out the front windows. Daryl pulled his bike up and parked it in front of Rick’s house since his driveway was basically only big enough for the jeep. Rick’s heart was practically pounding out of his chest at the sight of the other man and he tried to keep his cool. He watched Daryl pull his helmet off and sit it on the bike. As he walked towards the house, Rick walked to the front door to meet him.

He opened it just as the hunter walked up the steps to his tiny front porch. “Hey. See you got the bike working,” he said as he awkwardly stood in the open doorway. The hunter looked good tonight. He had cleaned up and even tried to tame his shaggy, brown hair. He wore a white t-shirt with a black jacket over it and even wore a clean pair of jeans. Rick licked his lips as he watched Daryl speak.

“Yea…it’s runnin’ pretty decent. Nice neighborhood ya got here. You must have, what? 20 feet between each house? I bet you only barely hear their TVs at night,” Daryl teased as he glanced across the street.

“Pretty much. Not the greatest, but it gets the job done. I’m sure they’re all glancing out their windows right about now to see who made all the racket on a motorcycle.” Rick stepped aside so Daryl could walk in. He hoped the place looked decent. He had picked up a little bit today, but he was really never one for cleaning. That had always been Lori’s territory. A pang of guilt shot through Rick at the thought of his deceased wife and he tried to brush the feeling away as Daryl walked inside.

The hunter shrugged his light jacket off as he entered the living room, looking around at the pictures on the walls. He stopped at one family portrait they had taken about six months before Lori had been diagnosed, when they were still happy and oblivious. “Is that her?”

Rick walked up next to him and nodded. “Yea, before the end. When she was still healthy and happy.” He looked away, trying to hide some of the sadness he felt.

“Miss her?” Daryl asked, lightly brushing his knuckle over Rick’s hand to give him small comfort.

“I’ll always miss her. But it gets easier. You help make things easier…” Rick said quietly. He squeezed Daryl’s hand quickly before letting go and calling for his son. “Hey Carl! You ready?”

They heard some rumblings from Carl’s back bedroom and finally heard a door open and shut, with his son emerging from the hallway a few moments later. He had a slightly wary look to his face as he approached the two men.

“Carl, this is my friend Daryl. Daryl, my son Carl.” Rick nervously introduced the two. His teeth were almost chattering from the anxiety bubbling up through his body.

Carl was polite and reached his hand out to shake Daryl’s. Daryl, slightly surprised, took the offered hand. “Nice to meet you,” Carl said. “So you know my Dad through work?”

Daryl glanced at Rick, unsure of how to respond. “Oh yea. Told him how you fix things around the station…” Rick trailed off, widening his eyes at Daryl to let him know he’d told his son a few fibs.

“Mmmm…yea,” Daryl nodded. “Them cruisers don’t fix themselves. Do a bit of work at Phil’s garage too.”

“Ok, cool. So where we going fishing at?” Carl asked curiously.

“Know this spot out on High Rock Lake. Just borders the county. Been going there for years.”

“Well alright. Let’s head out then. Already got our fishing gear in the jeep. I assume I’m driving,” Rick said with a smirk.

“Less you both wanna squeeze on the back of my bike. Wouldn’t recommend it though.”

Rick laughed at that and they headed out the front door. Daryl grabbed his fishing gear that he strapped to the back of his bike and tossed it in Rick’s jeep. Carl climbed in the back seat, only slightly grumbling about doing so, and Rick drove while Daryl navigated from the passenger side.

The drive was pleasant enough, if not a little quiet, and within in twenty minutes they pulled into a gravel parking lot next to a dock. They grabbed their gear and walked down to the old wooden dock that had an array of fishing boats tied to it. Daryl stopped at a small, blue boat and sat his gear inside it. He motioned for Rick and Carl to get in.

“Didn’t think we’d get to go on a boat today,” Rick said, surprised. “Is it yours?”

“Nah, I stole it for the occasion,” Daryl said sarcastically. Rick rolled his eyes at the hunter as Carl giggled. “Yea, it’s mine. Share it with Merle. Had it for a few years now. Pretty reliable.”

“Cool!” said Carl. He looked way more excited now than he had earlier. Rick helped his son into the boat, indicating that he should sit in the front. Rick then sat their fishing gear inside. He stood for a second with his hands on his hips, debating on how to step in. He was a little unsure around boats, never having spent much time around them. Daryl finally grabbed his hand and helped him down into it, causing Rick to blush. He was thankful Carl hadn’t bothered to notice.

Once they were settled, Daryl finished untying them from the dock and pulled the engine, which sprang to life. Carl sat at the front, with Rick in the middle and Daryl in the back so he could steer the boat. They went at a pretty good pace for a while as Daryl led them to his fishing spot. Carl couldn’t stop smiling, which made Rick look back at Daryl and give him his own big smile to show how grateful he was that he did this with his son. He made sure Carl wasn’t looking and quickly gave Daryl’s hand a tight squeeze.

Daryl brought them to a little alcove on the lake and got the boat to a slow stop. The men prepared their lines and quickly cast them out. They sat in a peaceful silence while they waited for a bite. Daryl was the first to break the silence.

“So…you doing okay? After yesterday?” He spoke quietly but Rick knew he was talking to him about the incident at the bowling alley.

“As good as can be expected. I certainly didn’t think that was gonna happen within my first two weeks on the job, but it couldn’t be helped, I guess.”

“You did what you had to do,” and he patted a hand on Rick’s shoulder.

“That’s what I said,” Carl butted in, not wanting to be left out. “But he’s still gonna beat himself up about it.”

“Is that right?” Daryl asked, directing his question at Rick.

Rick sighed. This isn’t what he wanted to talk about today, not during their time together. “All I’m gonna say is that I hated doing it, but it had to be done. Will I think about it some more? I’m sure I will. Will I try not to dwell on it? Of course. But I did take a man’s life yesterday, and I can’t just forget about it. Now that’s the last I want to talk about it. Let’s just enjoy this.”

After a few minutes, Carl looked over to Daryl at the other end of the boat. “I saw your bike out front. It’s pretty cool.” Daryl seemed a little thrown off to have the conversation put on him, and Rick had to work to cover the smile that formed on his lips.

“Thanks. Your dad told me the same thing,” Daryl said, elbowing Rick.

“Yea right. Like Dad would ever like a motorcycle.”

“Hey! You don’t know everything about me,” Rick said indignantly. “I might want to learn how to ride one, one day.”

Daryl leaned forward and held his hand up like he was mock-whispering to Carl. “He’d probably just end up riding on the back of mine.” With that, Carl dissolved into a fit of laughter and Rick picked up a wiggling worm and threw it at Daryl. Soon, all three were laughing hard enough to rock the boat.

They went back to fishing and within a few minutes, Carl got a bite. By the end of the day, they had all gotten a few fish. Much better than what Rick and Carl had caught a few days prior. They headed back to the dock with a full cooler and smiles on their faces. Rick and Daryl loaded the back of the jeep up while Carl climbed in the back seat.

As they shut the back, Rick grabbed Daryl’s hand before he could head for the passenger seat. He glanced at Carl to make sure he was still facing forward as he talked in a quiet voice. “You’re staying for dinner, right? Need someone to show me how to cook all this fish.”

“Yea, I guess. You don’t look like you'd be too useful in the kitchen,” Daryl teased. He gave Rick a wink.

“Well there’s plenty of other things that I’m useful at…” Rick said as he lightly rubbed a hand up Daryl’s arm.

“Any chance of those things happening tonight?” the hunter asked, glancing Carl’s way.

“I’ll see what we can work out.” With that Rick climbed into the jeep and they headed back to the house. Daryl underestimated his own cooking abilities, because that night Rick ate the best fish he’d ever had. Carl seemed to enjoy it too because there was none leftover. Once they cleaned up the kitchen, all three retired to the living room. Carl sat in the armchair while Rick and Daryl sat on opposite ends of the couch, trying to keep a distance between them.

Rick flipped through the channels until he settled on a show that he knew Carl hated. After about ten minutes of a show even Rick found to be pretty bad, Carl finally asked if he could be excused. Rick tried to hold back his energy as he said yes, and his son trudged off to his room where he shut the door and turned his music on.

The two men sat apart for maybe two minutes just to make sure Carl wouldn’t come back out for some random thing he forgot. Rick couldn’t stand it any longer and practically jumped to the other end of the sofa and planted his lips on Daryl. Both men practically pawed at each other, hands roaming all over their bodies, slipping under shirts to graze bare skin. Rick got a hand up to Daryl’s chest and lightly tweaked the man’s nipple. Daryl responded with a rough bite to Rick’s lips which only turned him on more.

Rick ended up getting on top of Daryl and straddling his lap while he wrapped his hands around the hunter’s face and worked soft, deep kisses into his mouth. Daryl gripped Rick’s hips and lifted his pelvis to grind them together. Rick took the hint and started to rock his hips against Daryl and worked his kisses down the other man’s neck. He found one particularly sensitive spot that he licked and sucked at, eventually biting down hard. Daryl hands squeezed hard at Rick’s sides as he forced himself to not let a moan escape.

Suddenly, they heard a door open from the back of the house, Carl’s door, and Rick jumped off Daryl and planted himself on the other end of the couch. He wiped his mouth and tried to smooth his hair. Daryl crossed his legs and tried to act cool. Rick looked down and realized his erection had made a huge tent in his pants and he grabbed a random throw pillow from the floor and sat it in his lap.

Carl walked past the living room and into the kitchen. Rick heard the fridge open and then close. His son walked back through the living room with a can of soda in his hand. He waved briefly to his dad and then went back to his room where he shut the door. Rick let out a huge breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He looked over at Daryl who had a big smirk on his face. Rick took the throw pillow from his lap and threw it at him. “What’re you smiling ‘bout?” he asked.

“Can we take this to your bedroom yet?”


	13. Chapter 13

Rick was eager to drag the hunter to his bedroom and have his way with him, but he needed to cover his bases first. Daryl went outside and rolled his bike to the windowless side of the house, on the off chance Carl looked out front and happened to see it still sitting there. Rick thought he was being a tad paranoid, but then he remembered how they closed his jeep up at Daryl’s house and that had paid off. Better to be safe than sorry.

He quietly slid the back door open in the kitchen and the hunter slipped back inside. He didn’t want to risk Carl hearing the front door open again. Daryl slipped his boots off and Rick quietly led him down to his bedroom in socked feet. Once he had the hunter on his bed, he stepped back out into the hallway, pulling his door shut.

He walked to Carl’s door and gave a quick knock. “Yea?” he heard his son respond.

Rick opened the door just enough to get his head through. His son was on his bed, messing around with his tablet while he played music through his speakers. His room was a disaster area, but telling him to clean it was the last thing on Rick’s mind. “Just wanting to say good night. I’m heading to bed.”

“Okay. Daryl already left?”

“Yea. He pulled out about ten minutes ago.”

“Really? I didn’t even hear his bike.”

Rick bit his lip at the lies he was telling his son. “Well you got your music so loud, I’m surprised you hear anything.”

“Oh. Should I turn it down?”

“No! It’s fine. Don’t worry about it…”

“Okay. You know, you were right. He’s pretty cool. I’m glad you made a friend, Dad.” And his son gave him one of his genuine smiles. It almost crushed Rick to know that he was lying to his son, but he just wasn’t ready to tell him everything yet.

“Thanks. Night, son. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Rick shut the door behind him and tried to shake off the guilt that was weighing down on his shoulders. He opened his own bedroom door and his mind immediately turned to other matters when he saw Daryl laying on his bed. He was stretched out with his arms behind his head and he gave Rick an incredibly salacious smile when he walked in. Rick quickly shut and locked the door behind him.

Daryl had thrown his jacket down by his boots and the white t-shirt he wore had inched up to show part of his tan stomach. Rick’s eyes immediately went to the exposed flesh. He climbed onto the bed and lowered his head and started to place small kisses on the hunter’s torso, slowly working his way up and pushing the shirt up with his nose. He got to Daryl’s chest and took one his nipples into his mouth and worked his tongue around it. The act earned him a low moan from Daryl and the hunter threaded his fingers into Rick’s hair.

He dragged Rick’s head up and brought their lips together in a searing hot kiss. Rick hated to break it, but the need to feel skin on skin was too much and he pulled away to drag Daryl’s shirt over his head. Daryl didn’t even bother to unbutton Rick’s shirt, he just popped the front open and Rick was sure he saw a few buttons fly to the floor. He didn’t care though and brought the hunter into his arms so he could feel the man’s chest against his own.

Daryl spread his legs and Rick lay between him as they continued to explore each other’s mouths. Rick rocked his hips into Daryl’s, rolling their clothed erections against one another. He grabbed Daryl’s chin and turned his head to the side. He worked kisses against his jawline and then reached the hunter’s ear where he dipped his tongue in and worked it in a circle. Daryl’s hands immediately went to Rick’s ass and he rutted his hips against the other man as he let a small hiss escape his mouth. He had definitely found one of the hunter’s weak spots.

He bit the ear one last time and then sat up, dragging his hands down the hunter’s chest. “Where the hell you goin’?” Daryl asked and Rick just smiled in response. His hands made their way to Daryl’s pants and he slowly started to unbutton them, no shaking this time. He pulled the zipper down and Daryl’s stiff length started to poke free. Rick realized that the hunter never wore underwear and the thought of that made him really hot.

He grabbed the waistband and Daryl lifted his hips so Rick could pull the pants off. He tossed the jeans onto the floor and stared down at the sexiest man he’d ever seen who was now naked in his bed. “What you gonna do with me now?” Daryl teased. The hunter reached down and took his own stiff cock in his hand and gave it a couple strokes. Rick licked his lips and held his breath as he watched the sexiest image that he’d ever seen. He made sure to remember every detail so he could think about it later.

He decided that he needed to have Daryl in his mouth right at that moment. He replaced Daryl’s hand with his own and brought his mouth down to the hunter’s beautiful, hard cock. He stuck out his tongue and licked it from base to tip, earning a satisfied sigh from the other man. Rick got his lips wet and worked kisses up the shaft and around the head, giving small licks occasionally. Then he stroked Daryl’s length while he swirled his tongue around the head.

“Damn…You been practicing or something…Oh fuck…” Daryl moaned, as he fisted the bed sheets. Rick smiled inwardly. He may or may not have googled a few things earlier that day. He decided then to really set his pace, bobbing his head up and down, working his hand in time, trying to give the right amount of sucking and licking. Daryl started to writhe on the bed and his body slowly tensed up. His cock got even harder in Rick’s mouth and he knew that the hunter was close.

Daryl sat up on his elbows and watched Rick work. Only a moment later, he moaned through gritted teeth, “Jus’ like that…Fuck…I’m gonna come…” He thrusted his hips into Rick’s mouth and Rick could feel the warm liquid start to spill into the back of this throat. Rick eagerly swallowed every drop as Daryl’s head rolled back while he bit his lip to keep any moans from escaping. As Rick brought his head up, he felt an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction. He loved being able to make Daryl feel this way.

The hunter practically collapsed onto the bed as Rick curled into his side, placing small kisses on his chest and running a soothing hand up and down his stomach. Daryl finally turned his head to look at the other man. “Where the hell did all that come from?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Rick tried to say innocently, but he failed horribly. He could barely keep a straight face. Daryl laughed and turned on his side to face the other man.

“Bullshit! I think somebody did some research.” He reached a hand up and gave Rick’s nipple a light tweak.

“Maybe…” Rick conceded.

“Mmm Hmmm.” He pushed Rick onto his back and climbed on top of him, straddling his body. Rick couldn’t help but love the image of a naked Daryl on top of him and he grabbed the hunter’s hips and lifted his pelvis into the other man. Daryl smiled and grabbed Rick’s wrists, dragging them over his head. He kneeled down and placed light, teasing kisses on the other man’s lips. Rick bit at each kiss, too worked up to want anything gentle or sweet.

Daryl smiled and sat up. He looked down a Rick for a minute, like he was in deep thought. Finally, he asked, “Trust me?”

Rick gave him a quizzical look, but nodded his head anyway. He didn’t know what the hunter was up to, but there was no question that he trusted this man. Daryl finally let go of Rick’s wrists and as Rick brought his arms back down, Daryl stopped him. “Uh uh. Arms back up.” Rick did as he was told. Daryl ran his hands down Rick’s body and stopped at the waistband of his pants that he had left on while he took care of the hunter.

Rick was wearing a belt today and Daryl undid it with deft fingers. He pulled the belt from the pant loops and then brought it above Rick’s head. Rick was unsure of what was going on, but soon he felt the leather of his belt wrapping around his wrists. Then he felt a slight tug upward as the belt was tied around an open slat in Rick’s headboard. Rick finally realized that Daryl was tying him to the bed and his entire body started to flush bright red and his heart started to pound twice as fast.

“Is it too tight?”

Rick licked his lips and shook his head. Daryl brought his head down and placed a few soft, reassuring kisses to Rick’s lips. “You good?” he asked.

“Yea. I’m good,” Rick replied a little breathlessly. Daryl smiled at the response and scooted down the bed. His hands went to the waist of Rick’s, now belt-free, pants and he quickly undid them, sliding them off and tossing them to the floor along with Rick’s boxer-briefs. He ran his hands up and down Rick’s legs soothingly, and it helped him relax a little.

Daryl leaned forward and started to place soft, teasing kisses along Rick’s chest. He slowly worked his way down and along with each kiss came a short bite, which felt like a small electric current working its way through Rick’s body, straight to his groin. Daryl got to just above Rick’s stiff, bobbing cock and casually kissed every inch around it, never making direct contact with it. Every time he got close, Rick would thrust his hips in the air, practically begging for the hunter’s attention. He looked up and met Rick’s eyes with a mischievous smile.

“Daryl….” Rick begged quietly.

“Hmmm?”

“Please, Daryl…” Rick begged again, with another small thrust.

“What you want?”

Rick blushed at the question. He’d never been a big talker during sex, but communication was something Daryl seemed to appreciate. “What do you think?” His hands gripped at the leather belt.

“Nah. It ain’t what I think. Tell me what you want.” Daryl sat poised over Rick’s fully erect cock, waiting for instruction.

Rick bit his lip nervously. He always felt so ridiculous when it came to dirty talk. He balled up his courage and muttered, “I want you. I want your lips wrapped around my cock.”

Daryl’s eyes turned dark at those words. “Mmmm. What else?” He rubbed his hands on Rick’s hips as he waited.

“I want you to lick and suck every inch of it until I’m screaming your name. I want you to make me come and I want you to swallow every single drop that I put into your mouth.”

That must have satisfied the hunter because he plunged his mouth down around Rick’s entire length, making Rick arch his back off the bed. “Oh fuck,” Rick grunted, trying to be as quiet as he could. For once, he was glad that he got his son those loud speakers last Christmas. Daryl sloppily licked and sucked at the other man’s thick cock, working his tongue in circles. He pulled off and continued to stroke at the stiff length while he brought his mouth to the package underneath and gave it a few licks as well.

Rick groaned at the amazing sensation and bucked his hips when the hunter brought his mouth back to his ever-hardening cock, engulfing the entire member once again. At this point, Rick was cursing the belt around his wrists. He would give anything to have a hand gripped in Daryl’s hair just to have more contact with him. But Rick also found the lack of control incredibly sexy.

As Daryl bobbed his head up and down, Rick could feel his peak near. “Mmm Daryl…I’m close…” At that, Daryl brought his head up but continued to stroke Rick with his left hand. Rick almost protested, but before he could say anything Daryl had his right hand at Rick’s mouth, pushing two fingers inside.

“Get ‘em nice and wet,” Daryl commanded. Rick did as he was told and lapped his tongue all around the two fingers, although he wasn’t entirely sure why. After Daryl was satisfied, he popped the fingers from Rick’s mouth and went back to sucking at Rick’s cock. Rick almost forgot about the fingers until he felt one start to rub circles around his back entrance. Rick glanced down and saw that while Daryl was working his mouth, he had his right hand slipped underneath Rick.

He felt one finger slip in just a little and Rick drew in a quick breath. Daryl caught his eyes and pulled his mouth up. “Just relax. Feels weird at first, but it gets better.” Rick nodded for him to continue and Daryl’s mouth went back to work. Rick did as he was told and leaned back, closing his eyes, trying to enjoy all the sensations that he was feeling.

Daryl continued to work his hand and after a minute, Rick could feel the sensation change from a foreign feeling to something different. Daryl drove his mouth and his hand at the same pace and Rick started to feel this amazing pressure building from within. The hunter worked a second finger into Rick and the pleasure practically doubled. Soon Rick was panting as he worked his hips against Daryl’s hand.

“Oh fuck…Don’t stop!” Rick could feel himself about to be pushed over the edge and Daryl only quickened his pace, moving his mouth faster as he pressed his fingers deeper into Rick. That was all Rick needed and he grunted deeply as he had one of the most intense orgasms of his life. He tossed his head back and pulled hard against the constraining belt as he poured into Daryl’s mouth. True to Rick’s request, Daryl swallowed every bit.

He slumped against the bed in exhaustion as the hunter gently extracted himself. Rick felt the bed move as Daryl reached up and slowly untied the belt holding his wrists. Daryl placed a soft kiss on each wrist and hand, gently rubbing them as the blood flow slowly returned. Rick was so blissed out of his mind that he barely noticed. A minute later, he felt himself being turned onto his side as Daryl rested behind him and wrapped his arms around Rick’s waist.

Rick beamed a euphoric grin at the intimate gesture. “You know, you oughta warn a guy before you do that,” Rick said lazily, referring to the fingers that were in him only moments ago.

Daryl chuckled. “It’s better if you don’t. Otherwise, you get all tense ‘bout it. Might not have felt as good.”

“Mmmm, I see. Well…we’ll have to do that again.”

Daryl nuzzled in close to Rick’s neck, giving him a few, small pecks. “Maybe we can do more than that…”

Rick knew what he was saying, and the thought had crossed his mind a time or two as well. “Maybe we can,” and he turned his head sideways to connect with Daryl’s lips. They lay like that for a while before anyone talked again. Finally, Daryl pulled back rubbed a thumb against Rick’s cheek as he spoke.

“I know you don’t wanna talk ‘bout it, but you really doing okay? With the whole bowling alley thing?”

A small sigh escaped Rick’s mouth. “I’ll be fine in a few days. It’s kinda hard to get over something like that. It just…. It takes time. But I promise, I’ll be okay.” Rick kissed him again to reassure him. “When do you think we can get together again?”

“Hmmmm, not sure,” Daryl sighed. “What’s the next few days look like?”

“Gotta work tomorrow. Then after work, I gotta drive Carl to his grandparent’s house for the weekend. I have a late shift Saturday night, won’t get off until midnight. Then I have Sunday off. Carl shouldn’t get back until that night.”

Daryl thought for a moment as he absentmindedly ran a hand up and down Rick’s side. “Well I gotta work Saturday at the garage. What if I come over that night when you get off, stay with you ‘til the next day? Leave ‘fore Carl gets back?”

“That could work. That should give us some time alone,” Rick said. “Carl likes you, ya know. Said he thinks you’re cool.”

“He’s pretty cool too. I like how he doesn’t take your shit.” Daryl poked Rick in the stomach as he spoke and Rick chuckled.  

“Well I don’t. It’s hard enough to raise a teenager, but when they don’t listen to you…it makes life impossible.”

“Aw hell. That’s every teenager. Y’all just working through a rough patch. I’ve seen bad parents, you ain’t no bad parent. And he ain’t a bad kid neither. It’ll get better.” Rick felt comforted at just those few words and he relaxed into Daryl as he started to drift off to sleep wrapped in the hunter’s arms.


	14. Chapter 14

Rick woke the next morning to an empty bed. He vaguely remembered hearing Daryl get dressed just as the sun was breaking across the sky. He felt a pair of lips ghost across his forehead and he squinted his eyes open to see Daryl quietly slip out of his bedroom door, boots in hand, before he went back to sleep.

Now that he was awake, he glanced over at the clock and realized that he had overslept by half an hour. He let out a groan as he rubbed his eyes and then dragged himself out of bed. He groaned again when he felt all the muscles in his body scream at him. Rick was shocked that last night’s fooling around had affected his body this much. He was definitely getting older. As he was getting ready, he noticed a slightly dark tint on his wrists from where his belt had pulled against them last night. He couldn’t help but blush as he rubbed at them absentmindedly.

After dressing, he walked to kitchen where Carl was kind enough to have started the coffeepot. His son was packing up his book bag, getting ready to head for the door. “Running late this morning?” Carl teased.

“I guess so. Why didn’t you wake me?” Rick took a big gulp of coffee, burning his tongue a little.

His son shrugged in response. “I don’t know. Figured you might need the rest. By the way, the backdoor was unlocked this morning.”

Rick choked on his next sip of coffee, coughing and spitting some on the floor. He tried to compose himself as best as he could as he grabbed a paper towel to mop up the mess. “Oh really? Huh….must have forgotten to lock it back after I took the trash out last night…”

“Way to go, Dad. Gonna get us murdered in our sleep.”

Rick huffed out a quick laugh at his son. “Well anyone is willing to give it a try, son. But they’ll have to answer to me first.”

“You do know that my bedroom door is the first one in the hallway, right? I doubt a murderer is gonna sneak in the back door, stop and think about how it might be better to start his killing spree at the back of the house and then work his way to the front. I don’t think they’re that logical.”

“Well, not with that attitude, they aren’t,” Rick replied to his smartass of a son. Carl laughed and rolled his eyes as he walked out the door to catch the bus. Rick sank down in a chair for minute to calm his pounding heart. Daryl must not have locked the back door when he snuck out this morning. Rick was surprised his son even noticed something like that and realized they would have to be extra careful from here on out.

He glanced at the clock and knew that he needed to head out too. He fixed a to-go cup of coffee, sensing he would need the extra energy today, and walked out the door. When he walked into the station a few minutes later, he saw his partner already sitting at his desk. Rick seated himself in his own swivel chair as he said, “Morning, Shane.”

Shane didn’t bother to speak back to Rick. He continued to sit in his chair and had this far-off look in his eyes. Rick waved a hand in front of his partner’s face. “Hey, you okay?”

Shane blinked back to the real world and finally noticed Rick. “Oh, hey man. Yea, I’m good. You?”

“I’m doin’ okay. Spent some time with Carl yesterday. Helped with things.” Rick was referring to the bowling alley incident. He really did feel a lot better today. He knew that the whole thing was still on the outer edges of his mind, but it wasn’t weighing down on him nearly as much.

“That’s good, man. That’s good. Family helps…” Shane trailed off and he seemed distracted as he went through his stack of papers on his desk.

“You sure you’re doing okay? You seem a little off. Are we okay?” and Rick gestured between the two men.

“Oh don’t worry ‘bout that. After the bowling alley, we’re all good, man. Just got other stuff on my mind. I think the Cap wanted to see you when you got in though.”

Rick nodded and stood up. He walked over to the Captain’s open office door and knocked. The Captain glanced up and motioned for Rick to enter as he finished up a phone call. Rick sat down in the same plastic chair as before and waited.

“Alright. Yes, yes. That’s fine. Okay. Good-bye.” He hung up his phone and brought his attention to Rick. “Morning, Grimes. How ya doin?”

“Pretty good, sir. Yesterday gave me some time to work through things, and I’m doing better. Ready to hit the cruiser.” Rick tried to sound upbeat. He didn’t want the Captain to think his newest officer was soft.

“Sounds good. Well, Internal Affairs reviewed everything and you’re all clear. So I can give this back to you.” He slid Rick’s gun across the desk. Rick nodded his thanks and took his weapon back. “So head back out there and do what you do best.”

“Thank you, sir. I will.” The Captain gave Rick a nod of dismissal and Rick went back to his desk. Shane had returned to his dazed off expression and Rick waved his hand to get his attention again. “Hey, Cap said I’m all cleared. You ready to head out?” Shane nodded his head and the two men left the station.

The day went by quick with a wide array of calls. The longest one consisted of a five car pile-up right next to the highway. A driver of a tractor-trailer ended up having a heart attack behind the wheel which caused him to run into two other cars that made a chain reaction with a couple more behind them. Miraculously, nobody was seriously injured and the man with the heart attack was rushed to the hospital. The resulting traffic jam took the entire afternoon to resolve.

Shane continued to act a little strange throughout the day but he seemed fine whenever they talked, so Rick brushed away any worry that he had. They got back to the station a little early and the two men stood around with the other officers while they joked about some of the calls they had seen that day.

“I catch this kid texting while driving and when I pull him over for it, he swears up and down that he was just changing his music. He then picks up his cell phone and shows me the screen, and what do you think I see?” Mike asks the men standing around him. Everyone shrugs in response. “A damn pair of tits. The kid was sexting while driving!” All the officers in the circle, even Rick, have a good, hardy laugh at that. “They weren’t too bad, so I let him off with a warning!” At that, some men doubled over, clutching at their sides.

Rick checked his watch and realized it was time for him to head home. “Alright, fellas. Time for me to go. Gotta take my son to his grandparents. Take it easy.” All the guys waved good-bye, and Rick jumped in the jeep to head home. He pulled into his driveway a few minutes later and walked in the door. Carl already had his overnight bag packed, sitting in the hallway. Rick was grateful for that much.

He glanced in the living room and it looked like his son was getting in some last minute video game time before he went to his grandparent’s house, which didn’t even have internet. “Hey! I’m gonna go change and then we’ll go!” Rick yelled, trying to get past the headphones his son had strapped to his ears. Carl must have heard because he nodded his head and continued with his mission.

Rick changed into a pair of jeans and a button front shirt. He picked up the one he wore last night off the floor and saw about three buttons missing. He’d have to look around for them later and find some time to sew them back on. After he tucked his shirt in, he grabbed his belt and warmth spread throughout his entire body as he remembered the tug of the leather against his wrists. He smiled at the thought and secured the belt around his waist.

He walked back out to the living room, picking Carl’s bag up on the way, and tapped Carl on the shoulder to let him know it was time to go. Carl let out a long, heavy sigh as he turned his game system off. Rick rolled his eyes behind his son’s back. “Oh, come on. Stop acting like you hate going to see them. You love Grandma Pat and Grandpa Jim.”

“I know, but Jake was setting up a tournament this weekend. We were gonna team up and whoop these other guys.” Carl trudged forlornly to the front door and walked out.

“Well there’ll be plenty of other weekends for that.” Rick called to his son while he locked the door behind him. He went to the jeep and threw Carl’s bag into the back and then climbed in the driver’s seat. He looked over at his son who had his head leaned against the passenger window, mouth in a firm frown. “Hey, at least you get to eat good food this weekend. I’m the one that’s gotta work late tomorrow.”

Carl perked up at the thought of food. Cooking wasn’t exactly Rick’s forte, so a good, home-cooked meal was hard to come by. “Oh man. I hope Grandma makes chicken pot pie!” Rick groaned at the thought Pat’s chicken pot pie. It was one of her specialties. He started the jeep and they headed to their destination, about an hour away. “Try to have fun too. Grandpa Jim still has that cool air hockey table in his garage. I know he’ll wanna play with you.”

Carl wrinkled his nose a little, and Rick couldn’t quite blame him. Air hockey tables paled a little in comparison to the kinds of games you could play with a controller and a TV these days. “It’s gonna be weird being there without mom…” Carl mumbled. Rick reached over and placed a hand on his son’s shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.

“I know, son. But they miss you. You’re the only grandchild that they have. The only connection they have left of your mom. It’s important to spend time with them.” Carl gave his father a shrug. Jim and Pat were Lori’s parents. Rick’s own parents had passed away years ago, and Rick wanted to make sure that Carl stay connected with the ones that he had left. They had been devastated when they lost their daughter, and sometimes Rick wasn’t sure if it made things easier or harder for them when they spent time with Carl. He was so much like his mother.

Carl stayed quiet the rest of the trip and Rick flicked through radio stations to try and break up the silence. When Rick pulled into the old house that belonged to Jim and Pat, they were soon greeted in the driveway by both grandparents. Carl jumped out the jeep and ran into their arms and smiles were spread all around. Rick got out and gave them both a hug as well. He grabbed Carl’s bag and they went into the house.

It still had that same musty smell that greeted Rick every time he walked into it for the past 15 years. Pat hurried them to the dining room table but Rick walked slowly, taking in all the photos they had hanging on the walls of his family. Carl’s school pictures, Rick and Lori’s wedding photos, even photos from when Lori was young were sprinkled throughout the house. He took a big gulp as a little sadness peaked its way up inside of him. Most days he felt like they were doing so much better, but when he saw these memories, it was like she had died almost yesterday.

The men sat at the table while Pat served them dinner. Unfortunately it wasn’t chicken pot pie, but she did make an excellent roasted chicken with all the sides. Rick filled his stomach until he couldn’t fit another bite. They all sat around the table exchanging stories about recent life.

“So Rick, how’s old Tom treating you?” Jim asked, referring to Rick’s current captain. Jim and Tom had actually gone to the police academy together. While Jim retired early, Tom went on to work his way up the police department hierarchy. They still chatted occasionally and that was how Rick found out about the position opening up at his current station.

“Oh he’s good. Busy man, but he’s fair. Still getting’ to know him.”

“Well, he says wonderful things about you. Even told me about the bowling alley incident. You did good, son,” and he gave Rick’s hand a gentle pat. Rick put on fake smile and nodded a thanks to his father-in-law. He still wasn’t comfortable being praised for a man’s death.

As they finished with dinner, Rick grabbed the dishes and helped Pat in the kitchen. She never used a dishwasher, so she washed them by hand at the sink and Rick helped her dry them off. “So, tell me, have you found anyone special out there?” Pat asked with a soft smile.

“Uh…not really. Me and Carl are just trying to get comfortable. New town and all.”

“You know, Rick, we don’t expect you to pine away for Lori forever. You’re still young honey. We all miss her, but we want you to be happy.” A small tear worked its way down her cheek at the mention of her daughter and she quickly brushed it away. Rick wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug.

“I know you do. And I’m working on being happy. So is Carl. I think things are getting better,” he assured her. The last thing he wanted was for his mother-in-law to worry over them. She was obviously still hurting over the loss of her only daughter. Rick wondered if she would really be okay with him seeing someone new, let alone that someone being a man. He couldn’t even imagine the shocked look on her face if he told her. 

After all the dishes were done, Rick gave Carl a big hug and said good-bye. Jim and Pat were going to bring him back Sunday night so they could see the new house. As he climbed into the jeep, he gave a final wave to the window where Carl stood and made his way home. Right at the halfway point, Rick’s cell phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number on his screen, but he answered anyways.

“Hello?”

“Well hey there.” Rick smiled as he recognized the hunter’s voice on the other side of the phone.

“Hey yourself. Where are you calling from?”

“The payphone at the back of the bar. County Line.”

“How’d you get my number? I don’t think I gave it to you. Or at least I know you didn’t ask for it,” Rick teased.

“Think I’m clairvoyant? The damn garage’s got caller ID.”

“Oh. So why you calling from a payphone? Don’t you have a cell?”

“Nah…cell phones are overrated. Prefer my privacy.”

“Well they can’t be too overrated if you’re calling me right now. Who you at the bar with?” Rick hated sounding like a jealous girlfriend, but he couldn't stop himself from asking.

“Jus’ Merle and his meathead friends. Why? You jealous?”

“Maybe…” Rick smirked into the phone. “So what do I owe this pleasure to?”

“Mmmm…don’t know. Just wanted to see what you were doin’. Hear your voice…” the hunter trailed off.

“Well I’m driving back home right now. Still got about half an hour and I’m exhausted. I think I’ll pass out as soon as I get back. But I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night.”

“Yea? Me too.” He could hear the smile in Daryl’s voice through the phone. “Looking forward to you doing that circle thing with your tongue again,” he added quietly on the end.

“Mmmm…you might get more than that.”

“Yo! Daryl! The hell you doin?! It’s your shot!” Rick heard Merle yell in the background.

“Shit. Gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow night,” Daryl said hurriedly.

“Okay. See you tomorrow. G'night.” And with that the line went dead. Rick smiled to himself as he closed his phone and sat it on his dash. Now he was really looking forward to tomorrow night.


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning came quickly and Rick woke at his usual time. He called Carl to see how he was doing, and his son quickly reminded him that it had been less than 12 hours since they had seen each other. Rick laughed and they chatted for a minute before his son said he had to go. Grandma Pat had just finished making biscuits and gravy. Afterwards, Rick decided to do his morning workout. Since he had the spare time, he did another extended jog and came back home to do his sit-ups and push-ups while he watched the news.

After he showered all the sweat away, he decided to give the house a good, thorough cleaning. He did all the dishes, mopped all the floors, even cleaned the bathrooms. With Carl not around, Rick found he had too much time on his hands. The feeling was almost unsettling. He thought about calling Daryl at the garage, but he knew the other man would probably be busy and wouldn’t have the time or privacy to have a good talk.

Rick ate lunch and sat around watching TV until it was finally time to get ready for work. He threw on his uniform and headed to the station. As soon as Rick walked in the front door, he knew something had happened. Officers were buzzing around and the Captain was talking to two people at his desk while holding the phone to his ear. Before Rick could even make it to his own desk, Shane intercepted him with an anxious look on his face.

“Hey man. They found a floater out in Belews, ‘bout half an hour ago. The station’s goin’ crazy. Cap ordered us to the scene as soon as you got here.”

Rick was shocked. A dead body, floating in the water, in this small town? The murder rate was practically zero. He figured there must have been some sort of accident. “Alright. Well let’s go.” They hopped in the car and with lights flashing, went straight to the crime scene. Rick felt a slight chill shoot up his spine when he realized that he and Carl had only been here a few days ago.

Shane was driving a little erratic for Rick’s taste, and he could see the tension etched across his partner’s face. Rick understood though. If it was a murder, there would be a lot of pressure put on the police department to solve it as soon as possible. They pulled up to the crime scene a few minutes later. It was in a little alcove off the small lake.

Rick and Shane climbed out of the cruiser and made their way past the yellow tape that someone had already wrapped around the area. Both officers made sure to step carefully to avoid disrupting any possible evidence. Once they got closer, they saw the small forensics team taking photographs. Rick could see the body now and he had to swallow the sickening feeling that bubbled up inside of him.

It looked to be a brunette woman, maybe in her mid-20s, lying face-up in the water. As the forensics team took photos, they gently turned her over and Rick saw that her hands were tied behind her back. That definitely made it a suspicious death. As the two officers took in their surroundings, they heard another car pull up behind them.

Rick turned around and saw his Captain step out. It didn’t surprise Rick to see him here. Something this big, he knew the Captain would want to be in on every detail. Rick nodded to him as he walked up. “Captain.”

“Grimes. Walsh,” he nodded. He walked around the scene for a few minutes, talking to a couple people, before he came back to the two men. “Alright boys. Looks like we got a murder on our hands. Don’t think it happened here. It was probably a body dump. I’m gonna put you two and Mike and J.T. on this. Find out everything you can from the M.E. Then try to get an ID on her. Report back to me by the end of the day with what you have. I’ll handle the media. Try to keep this quiet.”

Rick and Shane nodded at their orders and once the Captain walked away, the two split to collect all the information that they could. Rick went straight for the Medical Examiner, who had pulled the body out of the water and was about to zip her up in a black bag. “Hi. I don’t think we’ve met yet. I’m Rick Grimes.” Rick spoke to the woman who crouched down by the body.

She squinted up at Rick, shading her eyes with her gloved hand, and then finally stood up. “Hi. I’m Maria Lopez. You must be the new guy. I’m the Medical Examiner in this tiny town. I’d shake your hand…but…” and she indicated to her gloved hands and then to the body.

“Oh that’s alright. Captain put me and Shane on the case and I was checking to see if we knew anything yet from preliminary examinations. Not to rush you or anything, but I’m sure you know how the Captain is prioritizing this.”

“Oh yea. I’ve known Tim for 10 years. That man certainly is…goal oriented,” she sighed. “Well, I’d say she’s been in the water for a little less than 48 hours. I’d approximate death sometime Thursday night. I don’t think she drowned. There look to be marks on her neck from strangulation. And it’s gonna be tough to get an ID for her. All I can say is that she’s probably in her twenties, maybe early twenties. She has a small tattoo on her ankle of a ladybug. Those are really all the identifying factors I can see. I’m gonna have to do some tests to give you any more.”

“Alright. Well thank you for this much. I’ll check back in to see if you have any news later.” Rick ran a hand through his hair as he shut his notepad and shoved it back into his belt. He didn’t really have too much to go on and hoped that Shane had fared better. He went back to the cruiser and waited for his partner to finish with the witness who had found the body. Just as the M.E. rolled the body into the van, news trucks started to pull up and reporters hurried to get a good shot of the scene.

Rick rolled his eyes at the vultures. He wished there was more respect in the news world. A moment later, Shane pulled the passenger side door open and slid into the car. Rick decided to take over the driving since Shane seemed a little distracted behind the wheel today. “Hey. Hope you did better than me,” Rick said.

Shane sighed and shook his head. “Nah man. Dude didn’t see nothing. No cars, no footprints. He was walking his dog and found her just like she was. I’m thinking she was dumped in another part of the water and floated here. We should call the other guys and walk the perimeter of the water to find some footprints or point-of-entry.”

Rick nodded at Shane’s plan of action. “Well I didn’t get much. She was probably strangled. Body decomp seems to indicate that it happened Thursday night. Girl’s face is practically unrecognizable from the water. All we got is brunette, maybe early twenties, tattoo of a ladybug on her ankle. We could ask around, but ain’t nobody gonna be 100% without a photo. I guess I’ll scour missing persons reports and see what I can find.”

“Alright man. Let’s head back to the station and go from there.” Rick nodded in agreement and they headed back. While Shane rounded guys up to walk the lake, Rick combed through the county’s missing persons reports. He sighed in frustration when he came back with nothing. None of the reports matched their victim. He pulled himself up from his swivel chair and walked over to Shane’s group.

“Alright boys. Grab some water and some food. We’re combing every inch of this area to see if we find anything. Rick, you catch a break with missing persons?” Shane asked his partner.

Rick shook his head slowly. “Nah, didn’t find anything. Not for our county anyways. Might wanna check all the surrounding counties, but that’s gonna take more time.” Rick shoulders drooped in defeat.

“Alright, well we’ll keep looking later.” Shane patted Rick’s back reassuringly. “Let’s head out.” All the men grabbed their gear; then headed out to their cruisers and drove over to the lake. Shane had already set up areas for each set of officers to take. The afternoon dragged on as they walked their own set of the lake’s edge.

Shane checked in with the other officers through radio every now and again, but by the time everyone had finished, it was almost dark and no one had found any traces of a body dump site. They climbed back into their cruiser and sighed as exhaustion and frustration washed over their bodies. “Can’t believe we didn’t find anything,” Rick said as he rubbed his eyes.

“Yea man. Maybe they covered their tracks or something.”

“In this swampy land that surrounds the lake though? No way. We would have found something.” Rick wasn’t buying that the body was just dumped by the edge of the water. “Maybe they used a boat. Tossed the body into the water that night.”

“Yea, but somebody would of seen someone backing a boat into the water. If they did that in the middle of the night; that would have looked weird.”

“Well what if they already have a boat out there, or they used someone else’s boat. There’s plenty of ‘em tied to docks out there. Wouldn’t be too hard to do.” The more Rick said it, the more he knew that had to be it.

“I don’t know man. We’d have to get warrants to search every boat out there. That’s gonna be tough.”

“Well, let’s talk to the Captain and see what he says.” The two officers went back to the station and reported to the Captain about what they had found out so far.

“Hmmm…” he rubbed his moustache while deep in thought. “Let me see what I can do about warrants for the boats. Won’t come through until Monday anyways, if they do at all. Look through neighboring counties missing persons reports. Maybe we’ll get lucky. Don’t forget to check with the M.E. again.” The two men took their orders and walked back to their desks.

It was getting pretty late and Rick wondered if the Medical Examiner would still be working. He decided to call anyways, to see if he could get any possible updates. The phone rang three times before someone picked up. “Maria Lopez,” she answered.

“Oh, hi Ms. Lopez. This is Rick Grimes, from earlier today. I was just calling to check in and see if you found anything new pertaining to the case.” Rick stumbled a little through his words. He hadn’t really expected for anyone to pick up.

“Oh hi. I did find out some new things. There was no water in her lungs, so cause of death is definitely asphyxiation by way of strangulation. I was able to salvage what her wrists were tied with and it looks like it was fishing line, wrapped multiple times around. Her x-rays show several healed broken bones, so it looks as though she’s been abused in the past. Evidence also points to sexual assault, but her body also indicated that there was long term sexual abuse. I’m thinking that she might have been a prostitute. I took swabs for DNA, but the water probably washed that away. I also sent tests on her bloodwork. I should get everything back by the end of next week, depending on how backed up the lab is.”

Rick wrote down everything she told him and he quickly thanked her before he hung up. He looked up at Shane and reiterated everything he just found out. Shane looked deep in thought for a moment as everything sunk in. “So she might not even be in missing persons if she was a prostitute. I doubt we’ll even find anything,” Shane said.

“Maybe, maybe not. Maybe we should check all the local hotspots here in town and ask around, see if any of the working girls recognize the description,” Rick suggested.

“Good luck with that. The ladies of the night tend to run when they see our cars coming.”

“Still gotta try.” Rick and Shane checked through all missing persons reports for all the surrounding counties and came back with nothing once again. Rick was frustrated, so he persuaded Shane to ride with him through some of the town’s more popular red light districts.

Shane was right about one thing. Most of the scantily clad women turned tail as soon as they saw the cruiser pull down the street. The few who stayed adamantly denied knowing anyone by the victim’s description. By the time they pulled back into the station, it was close to midnight.

“Man, it’s been one hell of a day…” Shane sighed. They climbed out of their cruiser and stretched their weary limbs.

“It sure has. Well I’m gonna head home, I guess. Not much more we can do tonight. See you bright and early Monday morning?”

“You got it.” Shane nodded good-bye to Rick and headed towards his own car. Rick departed for the jeep and drove the short distance home. He was completely exhausted from the day and when he pulled up, he saw Daryl leaning against his bike that he parked in front of Rick’s house, in the same spot he had parked the day they went fishing. Rick smiled because he had completely forgotten he was going to get to see the hunter tonight.

Rick slid out of the jeep as Daryl walked up the driveway. Since it was late and completely dark outside, and since Rick felt a little goofy from being tired, he wrapped an arm around the hunter and dragged him in for a searing hot kiss. Daryl kissed him back, but pulled away after a minute, looking around to make sure no one was watching them.

“Paranoid much?” Rick teased as he walked to the front door. Daryl huffed and followed him into the house.

“Nah, ain’t paranoid. Just prefer to do this inside,” and with that he shut the door and pushed Rick up against the wall and placed a sexy kiss against his lips while he reached a hand down and groped Rick’s ass. Rick’s body loved the feel of the hunter next to him, but his mind was completely depleted of all energy and he broke the kiss and almost slumped into the hunter’s arms. “What’s up? Rick Grimes, not in the mood?” Daryl teased as he rubbed a hand up and down Rick’s back.

“Oh, believe me. If I had the energy, I’d be on my knees for you right now,” Rick smiled. “But after the day I had, I feel like I can barely keep my eyes open.”

“Hmmm…what happened?” the hunter asked as he half-carried, half-dragged Rick to his bedroom. Rick told Daryl about his day, about the body that was discovered, and all the running around they had to do. Before he knew it, the hunter had sat him down on his bed and completely undressed him, all except for his boxer-briefs. Daryl pulled back the covers and pushed Rick to lie down, which he did without complaint.

Daryl then shrugged off his own clothing and climbed into bed next to the other man. Even though Rick was tired, feeling the naked hunter against his own skin got him going and he almost tried to work through the exhaustion to get something started. Daryl just laughed at him and made him turn over.

“Sleep. We can do that tomorrow,” the hunter whispered into his ear. He wrapped his arms around Rick, and within minutes, both men had fallen asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Rick’s eyes fluttered open the next morning and he glanced at the clock. It was a little past ten and he felt a slight twinge of guilt at sleeping so late. Rick hated to waste time sleeping in. He turned over and saw Daryl sleeping next to him and a slow smile spread across his face as he watched the hunter’s chest rise and fall. Daryl slept on his back with one arm slung over his head and one arm still resting underneath Rick’s pillow, like he didn’t want to move it in case he disturbed the other man in his sleep.

Rick soon realized his need for the bathroom and quietly slipped from underneath the covers. His feet padded against the tile floor and he lifted the toilet seat to relieve himself. While he was taking care of business he turned his head to look out the bathroom door that he had left open and was surprised to find the hunter had turned over in bed and was sitting up on an elbow, watching Rick.

Rick laughed at his onlooker and said, “What? Is this really that interesting?” Daryl just shrugged in response and gave him a wink. Rick finished and tucked himself back into his underwear. He was about to flush when Daryl spoke.

“Wait…Now I gotta go.” The hunter jumped outta bed and switched places with Rick. Rick took his spot underneath the covers and assumed the same pose the hunter had been in before, watching him as well. Daryl looked over at Rick from the bathroom and then shyly turned his body sideways to block Rick’s view. Rick couldn’t help but think how funny that was and he dissolved into a fit a giggles. He heard the toilet flush and in a second, he felt the hunter pounce on top of him.

“What’s so funny?” he questioned Rick as he pulled the covers completely over their bodies, creating a small space for them. Tiny bits of light poured through the fabric, giving Rick a dim visual of Daryl only inches from his face. Rick suddenly had a realization of how much he cared for this man that was lying in his bed next to him. He pulled Daryl in close and placed a small, sweet kiss on his lips.

“Nothing. Just you…” Rick sighed.

Daryl resumed his elbow resting position next to Rick and pulled the covers back to let their heads breath. “What about me?”

Rick fiddled with Daryl’s free hand that was rubbing small circles into Rick’s stomach. “I don’t know. You’re…you’re something that I never saw coming, I guess. And…and…this really isn’t just some fling for me. I just realized that I care about you…a lot.” Rick bit his lip as he said all this, avoiding the hunter’s eyes as he spoke.

Daryl took his hand and brought it to Rick’s chin, turning the man’s face towards his own. Their eyes locked and Daryl spoke quietly. “This ain’t no fling for me either. I care about you too. I wanna be a part of your life, if I ain’t already. Hell, there probably ain’t nothin’ that I wouldn’t do for Rick Grimes.” Now it was Daryl’s turn to look away and Rick smiled as a bright red flush worked its way into his happy face. With their feelings all laid out, Rick felt like he could float on air right about now.

“Well, I feel the exact same way, Daryl Dixon,” he said as he grabbed Daryl’s face and brought their lips together in slow, sweet kiss. The two men wrapped their arms around one another and rolled around the bed, reveling in their time together. Their kissing soon turned heated and they started to nip little bites into each other’s necks.

Daryl pulled back on the waistband of Rick’s boxer-briefs and let go. “Lose these,” he said, in a husky, commanding voice.

“Oh yes, sir,” Rick replied obediently. He pulled the underwear off and tossed them onto the floor and brought his naked body together with the hunter’s.  They both sighed in pleasure when their stiff cocks made contact. Rick rutted his hips into Daryl’s as he licked and sucked at the hunter’s neck and squeezed his hands against his sides.

Daryl let little moans pass his lips as he worked a hand between their writhing bodies and wrapped it around Rick’s thick length. Rick brought his mouth back to Daryl’s and ran his hands through his shaggy brown hair as he thrust his hips into Daryl’s hand. He then pulled away from Daryl’s grasp and worked his lips down the hunter’s lean, slightly sweaty body. He even took the time to taste each of Daryl’s nipples, working small bites into each one. The hunter gripped Rick’s shoulders particularly hard at that, which made him grin a little.

He worked further south and made his way to Daryl’s hard cock that was standing fully erect for him. Rick was almost tempted to tease him the way Daryl had done Rick the other night, but he was too eager to taste the hunter so he plunged his mouth down. The hunter wasn’t expecting Rick to take him all right away, so he couldn’t help but groan loudly. “Ohhh fuck Rick!” He fisted the pillow behind his head as his back arched a little off the bed.

Rick smiled around the other man's cock and continued to work his lips and tongue up and down the shaft. He pulled back a little and stroked Daryl with his hand while his tongue swirled and flicked against the rounded head of his long length. Just as he was starting to bob his head up and down again, he felt Daryl grab his biceps and pull him up, his mouth leaving the stiff member with a pop. Daryl brought their lips together and Rick saw the hunter’s lust filled eyes work over his body.

Suddenly Daryl’s demeanor changed slightly as he pulled back, biting his lip and looking a little shy. “What is it?” Rick asked, rubbing a hand against the hunter’s hip soothingly.

“Did you…did you wanna…you know?” Daryl couldn’t even bring himself to say the words, and Rick finally understood that he meant have sex. He couldn’t help but smile at how bashful the hunter had turned in just the span of a few seconds.

“Oh…well I mean I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. I certainly liked what we did the other day…” Rick trailed off as he started to place kisses on the hunter’s neck and chest. Daryl pushed Rick back a bit and made their eyes connect as he spoke next.

“Well, this is kinda up to you…I’m not gonna do it if you aren’t comfortable with it.”

Rick looked into Daryl’s eyes and saw that he was sincere in his words. It really meant a lot to him to take this next step and he wanted Rick completely on board before they took it. He rubbed a hand over Daryl’s cheek and slowly smiled. “Yea…Let’s do it.” Daryl smiled back at him and brought him in for a deep kiss, one that held a lot of emotions. When they pulled away, Rick suddenly felt a little nervous. “Don’t…don’t we need something for that. I mean I haven’t needed lube in a long time,” and he laughed nervously.

Daryl just smirked at him and leaned his body half-way off the bed as he grabbed his jacket that he tossed onto the floor last night. He reached his hand into one of the interior pockets and pulled it back out, along with a small bottle. He brandished it to Rick like a model would show a prize on a game show. Rick let out a loud chuckle and ran a hand over his face. “Oh man. I should have known. The man who’s always prepared, ladies and gentleman.” He pointed to Daryl with both hands like he was talking to an audience.

“Hey. Don’t get use to this. Can’t always depend on me,” Daryl teased as he laid down on top of Rick.

“Yes, I can…” Rick whispered as their lips connected again. This time Daryl worked his way down Rick’s body. He slipped Rick’s thick cock into his mouth and got it nice and wet with his tongue. Rick was already moaning as he ran his hands up and down the hunter’s arms. Daryl pulled back and sat up a little as he popped open the bottle he had sat next to them.

He placed a few drops on his fingers and rubbed them around. He looked up at Rick and noticed the tension he had in his body as he watched the hunter. “Just relax. It’ll be good. Trust me.” He leaned down and placed a brief kiss on the inside of Rick’s thigh and Rick smiled as he laid his head back and tried to breathe slowly.

Daryl brought his mouth back to Rick’s length and like he did the other night, worked his lips and tongue while he brought his hand to Rick’s back entrance. He worked one finger slowly into Rick, who tried to keep his body relaxed. It started off the same as last time, a slight foreign feeling, but once Daryl got going and paced his mouth with his hand, Rick felt the same beautiful pressure building inside of him. He looked down and met Daryl’s eyes and nodded at him to add one more. Daryl slipped the second finger in and Rick groaned as he felt himself stretched wider. “Oh fuck…Daryl.”

Daryl continued working and a minute later, Rick felt him slip a third finger in. He lifted his hips in surprise and his wide eyes met the hunter’s. Daryl smiled a little and Rick groaned at the amazing pleasure that was building up inside of him. He knew he was getting close so he bit his lip and tapped the hunter’s shoulder. Daryl understood and pulled his mouth up as he gently pulled his fingers free. He sat up on his knees between Rick’s legs and put some more lube on his fingers, which he then brought to his own hard length.

Daryl tossed the bottle to the side of the bed and then lowered himself down on top of Rick. He placed sweet, gentle kisses to Rick’s lips as he lined himself up to the man’s entrance. The hunter pulled his head back and looked into Rick’s face as he asked, “You ready?” Rick swallowed nervously and nodded to him. Then he felt Daryl press the head of his cock gently into him. Rick took a deep breath as he felt himself stretch against Daryl, which felt very different compared to the man’s fingers.

Daryl ran a soothing hand against Rick’s side as he slowly worked himself in. He pushed about halfway in and then pulled back out, only to thrust further in the next time. After a minute, he was fully inside of him and he laid his head on Rick’s shoulder, holding still and breathing hard. Rick stroked a hand up and down his back as he kissed his shoulder. “What is it?” he asked quietly.

Daryl sighed and brought his head back up. “You feel so fuckin’ good. I’m already almost there.” Rick grinned at that and brought their lips together. He moved his hips against the hunter’s, encouraging him to keep going. Daryl started off slow as Rick adjusted to the fullness. After just a few thrusts, he felt an amazing jolt of pleasure each time the hunter pushed into him. Soon Rick had his hands on the hunter’s ass, urging him to go faster and harder. Daryl thrusted quicker and deeper into Rick as he panted from the intense pleasure. “Oh fuck… Rick, I don’t know…how long…”

“Daryl,” Rick moaned. “Don’t stop…fuck me…” Daryl kept at his pace and Rick knew that that the hunter was going to peak soon. Daryl reached a hand between them and wrapped his fingers around Rick’s maddeningly hard length and stroked him in time with his thrusts. Rick dug his nails into Daryl’s biceps as he felt his intense orgasm building. “Oh god... Daryl…I’m gonna come…baby…” And with that, he felt himself spilling onto their stomachs, and he threw his head back into the pillow as he moaned loudly. Only two thrusts later and Daryl followed him, burying his head into Rick’s neck and squeezing him tight as he emptied into him.

Daryl lay there on top of the other man, slightly shaking from the intensity of it all, and Rick lazily rubbed his back. After a minute, the hunter gently pulled himself out and turned on his side. Rick shifted to face Daryl and the two men wrapped their arms around one another as they tangled their legs together. They laid in a peaceful silence for a while, not needing any words.

Rick brought the hunter’s hand to his mouth and lightly kissed his palm. “We should do that…every day,” Rick said. Daryl’s face broke into a huge grin, one of his genuine smiles that not everyone got to see.

“I think we can work something out. But first, what was it that you called me? Right there at the end.”

Rick’s entire body blushed a bright red. He pulled a pillow over his face and groaned into it. Daryl yanked it off and tossed it onto the floor, so Rick had nothing to hide behind. “I might have been hoping you hadn’t heard that…” Rick mumbled.

“Come on. What’d you say?” Daryl teased.

“I think it might have been something like…baby.”

“Yea. That was it. Keep saying that and I think I can arrange some things.” The hunter leaned down and took Rick’s lips with his own.

“I’ll be sure to do that then,” Rick mumbled between their mouths. “How ‘bout we go clean up, baby?” Rick tested the word out to see Daryl’s reaction. He pulled back and the hunter was grinning just as broadly as before, and he decided he liked it too. Both men languidly pulled themselves up from the bed and made their way to the bathroom. Rick reached a hand in the shower and turned the water on. Daryl came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his torso while they waited for the water to get warm.

Once it heated up, both men stepped under the hot spray to wash all the dried stickiness off. They each took turns scrubbing and rinsing their hair. Daryl took the soap and lathered it in his hands and started to wash Rick’s back. Rick’s body automatically relaxed under the hunter’s deft hands. After he was completely soaped down, he quickly rinsed and then took the soap to do the same to the hunter.

Daryl leaned his arms against the shower wall and groaned as Rick massaged bubbly hands into his back. Rick laughed at Daryl’s response and wrapped his arms around him and started working soap across his stomach and chest. “What? You like that, baby?” He added the endearment on the end as he kissed Daryl’s neck.

“Mmm Hmm. I could get use to this, officer.”

“Well as long you’re good, you’ll get this. Otherwise, I might have to use my cuffs on you.” Daryl quirked an eyebrow at that as he turned to rinse. Then he wrapped an arm around Rick and brought him close.

“Hmmm...Might be worth it to be bad then,” he teased. Rick snorted a quick laugh at that and then turned to cut the water off. Still wrapped in the hunter’s arms, he pulled the shower curtain back to grab towels for the both of them. Rick was stopped short though when he saw his son standing in the doorway to the bathroom.

“Shit! Carl!” Rick said as he pulled the lower half of the curtain back to cover him and Daryl. The hunter had already pulled his arms away from Rick, but at this point it didn’t really matter. They had been caught. Guilt ate at him as he looked at his son who stared at the two with a mixture of emotions. Anger, hurt, confusion, and sadness all mixed into the face of the one person he always tried to protect.

“Grandma’s sister had to go to the hospital in Atlanta so they drove me back early. They said they’ll look at the house next visit.” His son’s face started to heat up and tears started to pool in his eyes.

“Carl…” Rick started.

“Don’t!” Carl yelled. “I fucking knew it! Don’t ever talk to me again!” And he took the container he had in his hands, what looked to be tupperware, and threw it straight at the bathroom floor. The lid popped off and chicken pot pie flew everywhere. Rick looked from the tile floor back to his red-faced son, who turned and ran out of the room.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just f.y.i. because of all the fabulous comments on the previous chapter about the chicken pot pie, I adjusted the tags accordingly. :-D

Rick grabbed a towel and yanked it around his waist as he ran after his son. Carl ran into his room and slammed the door in Rick’s face. He promptly heard the lock click and then his son shoved his dresser in front of his door for good measure. Rick quickly knocked and begged his son, “Carl…please just talk to me…”

There was a loud bang against the door, like something had been thrown at it and Rick jumped back in surprise. “Fuck off!” his son yelled and then he cranked the volume on his speakers as loud as they would go. Rick’s shoulders slumped in defeat. He walked back to his bedroom and sank down on his bed with his head in his hands. He felt the bed dip down next to him and Daryl’s arm wrap around his shoulders.

“Fuck. What am I gonna do?” Rick said with a choked voice. He tried to hold back all the emotion he was feeling, but it came pouring out anyways, and a few tears dropped from his eyes that he quickly wiped away. He had never meant for his son to find out this way. Things between him and Daryl had only just gotten serious and he wasn’t ready to give that happiness up. But he couldn’t bear to let his son be this upset, especially when he caused it. Rick felt genuinely conflicted.

Daryl placed a few soft kisses on his shoulder as he gently rubbed his bare back. “Just give him time. This ain’t gonna solve itself in a day.” Rick turned and wrapped his arms around Daryl’s torso and buried his face in the other man’s neck. Daryl returned the hug and they gently rocked back and forth. The hunter brought a hand up and ran it through Rick’s still wet hair. “Think I should go?”

Rick sighed as he realized that it might be better if it was just him and his son in the house right now. “Maybe. I don’t want you to, but it might be best. Just for now though,” he reassured as he brought his head up to meet Daryl’s eyes. He couldn’t help but worry that this incident might scare the hunter off and that sent a small amount of panic through Rick.

That panic must have shown because Daryl smirked and brought a kiss to Rick’s forehead. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back. Can’t get rid of me that easy.” He slowly stood and started to pull his clothes on. Rick figured he should do the same and got up to grab clean clothes from his dresser. After both men were dressed, Rick walked Daryl out to his bike and they stood there for a minute in a tight embrace. They shared a brief kiss and then Daryl pulled his helmet on. After he climbed on his bike, he grabbed Rick’s hand and said, “Call you tomorrow. It’ll be okay.” Rick nodded and the hunter started his bike and rode off.

Rick turned to look back at his house and sighed as he realized it was the last place he wanted to be right now. He walked back inside anyways. First thing he did was go to the bathroom and clean up the chicken pot pie that had been thrown on the floor. Guilt ate at Rick because he knew Carl had brought it back home just for him.

After the bathroom was cleaned, Rick went back to Carl’s door and knocked again. “Carl, can we talk? Please?” There was no answer, only the dull thud of Carl’s music. Afterwards, he went to the kitchen and made a sandwich. He sat at the kitchen table as he flipped through the paper and ate. The front page was covered with stories about the victim that had been discovered yesterday. Rick sighed and pushed the news pages away.

It was starting to get late in the afternoon but Rick felt restless. He decided to go for a run but first he made another sandwich and sat it outside Carl’s door. He changed into his running clothes and as he walked down the hallway, he stopped at Carl’s door one more time. He gave a soft knock as he leaned his forehead against the doorframe. “Hey Carl. I know you don’t wanna talk,” Rick said through the door. “I just wanna say that I’m so sorry that you found out that way. That’s not how I wanted that to happen.”

He heard the music turn down slightly and Rick felt like that was a good sign. “Look, I’m gonna go for a run. I’ll be back in an hour or so. I made you a sandwich and its sitting here outside the door. I love you, son. I’d never do anything to hurt you. I hope you know that.” Rick’s voice trailed off and then he headed out for his jog.

Rick ran for the next hour through the various streets around his neighborhood. He felt a little more at peace as he thought about the amazing morning he had had with Daryl. They had told each other their feelings and he felt really good about where they were at. He knew he would always regret how Carl found out, but the fact that he didn’t have to lie about it anymore lifted a weight off his shoulders. Carl would come around eventually; at least he hoped he would. His son was just like his mother. Lori would get mad like a flash of lightning but it would fade just as fast.

After his run, Rick walked back into the house and went straight to the kitchen for some water. When he opened the fridge, he noticed a couple can of soda were missing and out of curiosity, he opened the pantry and noticed a bag of chips was gone. He glanced down the hallway and the sandwich he left outside Carl’s door was gone too. He felt a little relief that his son at least came out for food, even if he went right back in afterwards.

Rick jumped in the shower to quickly rinse the sweat from his body. It felt a little lonely after the company he had had this morning, so he washed quickly and went out to the living room to watch TV the rest of the night. Even though he wasn’t that tired, he went to bed at his usual time since he had to work in the morning. He walked by Carl’s door one last time on his way to his bedroom. Instead of knocking, he just spoke through the wooden barrier. “Carl, I’m heading to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Rick waited in silence for any response at all. When he heard nothing, he sighed and ran both hands through his hair in frustration. “C’mon Carl. Just say something so I know you’re actually alive in there,” Rick begged.

“Fine! Goodnight!” he heard his son yell from the other side. Rick didn’t know whether to be grateful that he said something or worried that only spoke two words. Either way, he walked to his own room and went to bed.

The next morning, Rick woke up and got ready for work. When he exited his bedroom, he saw Carl’s door was still shut. He gently knocked and asked, “Carl? You up?”

“Yes!”

“Okay. Just checking.” Rick walked to kitchen and started the coffeepot. As he grabbed a mug from the cabinet, he heard Carl’s door open and quick footsteps. He leaned his head out of the kitchen and caught a glimpse of his son’s back pack as he rushed out the front door to catch his bus. Rick sighed and rolled his eyes.

While he drove to the station, his cellphone rang and a small smile worked past his lips as he recognized the number for Phil’s Garage. “Hello?” he answered with a happy ring to his voice.

“Mornin,” came Daryl’s low, sexy drawl on the other end.

“Hey. How’re you?”

“Fine, I s’pose. How’re things with Carl?”

“Uh…still tense. He stayed in his room all night and snuck out before I could see him this morning. So they could be better.” Rick sighed as he spoke.

“Things’ll cool off. Don’t let it weigh down on you.”

“Yea…I’ll try. What are you doing today?”

“Working at the garage. Merle asked me to help move the boat tonight.”

“Sounds like fun,” Rick teased. “So when do you think you’ll be free next?”

“Hmmm,” Daryl mumbled as he thought. “Probably tomorrow night. Think it’s too soon to see each other again, after everything with Carl?”

“Actually, I was thinking that it might help. Maybe it could help him get use to the idea.” Rick shrugged in the car as though Daryl could see him through the phone.

“Maybe. You wanna ask him first?”

“No. I don’t want to give him the chance to push it all away. So you’ll come over and he can choose to eat dinner with us or not. I think it’s the only way he’ll realize that this is real and it’s not going away.” Rick had just decided all of this in the past few moments, but he knew it was right move to make.

“Alright. If you say so. Tomorrow night then?”

“Yea. I’ll see you tomorrow…baby,” and Rick could hear Daryl give a gruff chuckle at the name before he hung up. As he tucked his cell back into his pocket, he pulled into the station. He walked in and sat at his desk.  Shane’s own desk looked unruffled, so he must not have made it in yet. Rick looked around and saw Mike on the phone. As soon as he hung up, Rick walked over and talked to him to see if he had any updates on the case they were working together.

Mike, nor his partner, had any leads to go on. They had knocked on doors and questioned every gas station and restaurant within the immediate Belews area and nobody recognized the girl’s description. Rick wished he had some of the results from the tests the M.E. had ran, but those were going to take time to get back. Tests were never as quick as they were in the cop shows on TV. One of the reasons Rick couldn’t bring himself to watch any of them.

“Grimes,” Rick heard his name called. He turned around and saw the Captain wave him over to his office. Rick walked in and the Captain remained standing, letting Rick know this would be a quick conversation. “Give me an update on the Belews case.”

Rick went through everything they had done so far and gave him all the news he had gotten from Maria Lopez. He also reiterated everything Mike had just told him. The Captain stood there for a minute, looking deep in thought. “Hmmmm. Walsh in yet?” Rick shook his head. “Okay. Well, all we can do is wait right now. I’ll call Maria and see if there’s anything I can do to urge the test results along. I started on the warrants for the boats, but I’m meeting some resistance from the higher ups. Between patrol today, go ahead and widen the search for missing persons. Start with the closest counties and work your way out.”

Rick nodded in response and the Captain dismissed him. He went back to his desk and shuffled through his paperwork as he started to comb through more missing persons reports. About an hour later, Shane finally came in and practically fell back into his swivel chair. He had dark circles under his eyes and an exhausted look on his face.

“Hey Shane. You okay? Little late today,” Rick added, checking his watch.

“Yea, I’m fine man. Just haven’t been sleeping well.”

“Everything alright?”

“Hmm? Oh yea. Just some lady trouble s’all. So what we got today?” Shane asked, trying to seem more upbeat. Rick told him about what the Captain had said and how he hadn’t found any matches yet. “Okay. How ‘bout you take a break from that, we hit the cruiser for patrol, and then come back early this afternoon and keep searching?”

“Sounds good to me,” Rick said. He was already starting to get a headache from staring at the computer screen. Both men headed out to the car to start patrol. There was a lot of time between calls today, so the two officers spent most of their time in the cruiser.

“Oh hey. I got a date tomorrow night with Raggedy Ann from the diner,” Shane said with a sly smile.

“Yea? Thought you said you were having trouble with the ladies?”

“I am and ole Red is gonna help me get over them by getting under me,” Shane said with a bawdy wink. Rick laughed and rolled his eyes at the overt meaning behind Shane’s words. “How’s it going with Carl?”

Rick groaned at the question as he thought of a way to answer it. “I don’t know, man. He’s mad at me right now for some stuff. Won’t even talk to me. Doing the best I can, you know.” Rick shrugged at the end of his sentence.

“Yea, that’s just that teenage shit. Gotta smack some sense into ‘em every now and again.” Rick nodded at Shane’s words even though he completely disagreed with that statement. Then they saw a bright red pick-up fly by their cruiser, obviously speeding. “Fish on,” Shane said and they sped away after the truck, lights flashing.

Later that afternoon, they pulled back into the station and went to their desks to continue the search through missing persons. As it neared quitting time, Rick was clicking through reports in Monroe county when he found one that might be what he was looking for. The report he found was about three years old for an 18 year-old girl with short, brown hair. Her name was Tina Mason and the file mentioned that she had a tattoo but didn’t describe what it was. Rick printed the report out and walked over to Shane.

“Hey what do you think of this? It’s from Monroe County and it’s pretty old, but you think that might be her?” Shane rubbed his chin as he looked at the photo.

“Hmmm. I don’t know man. That looks like a long shot.”

“Yea, but I think it’s still worth looking into. I think I’ll call the station this was filed at and check into it tomorrow.” Rick put the report in his file and sat it back on his desk.

“Alright man. It’s your time to waste.” Shane shrugged and both men called it a day and headed home. Rick pulled in his driveway and silently prayed that Carl would be in a better mood tonight. He walked inside and when he didn’t see his son in the living room, he glanced down the hallway and saw the door firmly shut. Rick felt slightly defeated and went to his room to change.

Afterwards, he decided to order a pizza for dinner. Once it was delivered, he pulled three slices from it and sat it at Carl’s door. He knocked before he spoke. “Carl, I ordered pizza. It’s sitting by your door. And I just wanted to tell you that Daryl is coming for dinner tomorrow night. I know you don’t wanna see him, but I do so you can choose to eat dinner with us or not. But he’s still coming over.” Rick waited for a response and heard nothing. “Can I get an answer? Please?”

“Fine! But I’m not eating with you guys!”

“Okay…” Rick sighed. He walked back to the living room and sat on the couch with his own plate. He briefly heard Carl’s door open and shut so he could grab his plate Rick had sat out for him. That was the last Rick heard from him for the rest of night. He didn’t think he could take much more of this so he formulated a plan for the next morning before he went to bed early.


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning, Rick woke up about an hour earlier than usual. He quietly got ready in about 30 minutes and went to the kitchen. He fixed his coffee and grabbed the paper. Instead of sitting at the kitchen table like he normally did, Rick instead walked back to the hallway and sat in front of Carl’s door. He figured his son had to come out at some point, and he was going to talk to him one way or another.

He sipped his coffee and slowly read through the news. More speculative articles on the case he was investigating scattered every page. You knew it when a small town had big news to report. About twenty minutes passed and Rick heard some movement behind Carl’s door. He sat his coffee cup down and quickly folded the paper. He quietly stood up and a few seconds later Carl’s door swung open.

His son was still half asleep so it took him a minute to register his father standing in front of his doorway. Once he saw him, he went to shut the door again, but Rick stuck a hand out and held it open. Carl sighed and rolled his eyes as he turned away from his father and walked to the other side of the room. Rick walked just past the entryway before he spoke. “Look, I can’t take this. I need to talk to you. I need to know you’re okay.”

Carl crossed his arms and stood in a frustrated stance. He finally huffed out a breath and said, “Fine. Can I at least pee first?” Rick held back a smile and stepped out of the way, so his son could walk to the bathroom. After a minute, he came back and firmly planted himself on his bed. Rick grabbed Carl’s desk chair and brought it over so he could face his son while they talked.

He sat down and hunched over to rest his elbows on his knees. “I’m so sorry about what happened. That wasn’t okay. If I could go back in time and change it, I would. But I’m not sorry that you know. Me and Daryl…we’re together.”

“I think I know that now!” Carl said loudly.

“I know, I know.” Rick held his hands up defensively. “This is something that’s really new; it’s only been about a week. But it’s not something that I want to end just because you saw us together.”

“So what? You’re gay now?!” His son held his hands out in bewilderment.

“I don’t know, Carl. I don’t know what I am. Your mother was all I knew for years. And when she died, I felt nothing for a long time. And then we came here, and I met Daryl, and things changed. I felt something again. It’s hard to describe, but it’s like someone cut the lights back on inside of me when I had been living in the dark for so long.”

Tears welled up in his son’s eyes and he started to sniffle. “So…you’re just gonna forget about mom then?”

“God, no! I’ll never, ever forget about your mother!” Rick leaned forward and wrapped his arms around his crying child. He hugged him tight as he spoke. “The kind of love me and your mom had was amazing. She will always, always, always be in my heart. The exact same way you will. That won’t ever change. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have room in there for other people.” Rick felt his own eyes brimming with tears as he pulled back from his son.

“I should have told you everything from the get go, but I was so worried about what you’d think. I never should have lied and I’m sorry that I did. You’re the most important thing in the world to me. Don’t ever, ever forget that.” Rick sat quietly as he waited for his son to process everything.

Carl wiped at his face while his tears dried up. “So…are you in love with him or something?”

Rick couldn’t help but crack a small smile at the question. “It hasn’t quite gotten that far yet. But I do care about him a lot. And I’m pretty sure he feels the same way about me. You’re really the first person to know about us and it would mean the world to me if you would be okay with this.”

“Well what else can I do? I’m obviously gonna be seeing him a lot. It would make life kinda hard to hate him all the time. Especially when he’s already been so cool to me. Is there anything else you lied about?”

Rick let a small groan escape as Carl asked that. He knew he needed to give his son full disclosure. “Well…he doesn’t really work at the station. But I did meet him while I was on duty…”

“Okay. How?”

“I may have arrested him…”

“What?!?! You arrested the guy and then decided you wanted to date him? How’s that work?” Carl asked in confusion.

“Well, we were arresting Daryl’s brother, and Shane roughed him up a bit. Daryl didn’t take too kindly to that, so he punched him.” Carl actually chuckled at that part. “In all actuality, his brother’s the troublemaker and Daryl’s just really loyal to him. And then I kept seeing him around town and things went from there.”

“I knew something was up. You acted so weird around him. I’ve never seen you act…I don’t know. Like how I act around the girl’s at school.”

Rick scoffed at that. “Well, what can I say? It’s been awhile since I’ve dated. I’m out of practice.”

“I’ll say,” and Carl laughed. Rick laughed with him and ruffled his son’s already messy hair. After a minute, Carl’s face returned to a serious demeanor. “I don’t know if I’ll eat dinner with you guys tonight. It’s still kinda…weird,” and he shrugged.

“That’s okay. I don’t expect you to get use to this overnight. It’ll take time.” Carl nodded at his father and sighed.

“Okay. Is this over yet? I have to catch the bus in like half an hour.” Rick glanced at the clock and realized he was right. As they both stood, he grabbed his son one more time and brought him in for a tight hug.

“I love you,” he said as he placed a quick kiss atop his son’s head.

“Yea, yea, yea. Love you too.” Carl rolled his eyes and smiled as he pulled away. “Oh, can you do one more thing for me?”

As Rick walked to the door, he turned back around. “Sure. What is it?”

“Can you lock your door from here on out? I never wanna hear another conversation about handcuffs again.” Carl’s body shivered and he made a face like his brain would never be able to erase what he had heard in the bathroom.

A dark red blush covered Rick’s entire face as he widened his eyes and quickly nodded at his son. He turned and walked out of the room before he could die of embarrassment. Carl must have been standing in that doorway longer than he thought. Even after that last humiliating part, Rick walked into the kitchen feeling a million times better now that everything had been talked out.

Father and son left the house together and hugged quickly before Carl walked to his bus stop. Rick jumped into his jeep and headed to the station. When he walked in, he saw Shane was in the Captain’s office, talking by his desk. He went to his own work station and sat in his chair, pulling out the file with the information he found yesterday afternoon.

He glanced at the report he had printed out and knew that his instincts were on the right track. He picked up his desk phone and called the station that the report was made at. It took about 15 minutes to find someone who could actually answer any of his questions.

“Alright…So I’ve found the file. What’d ya need?” came the voice on the other end of the phone. It was an Officer Pearson and it had taken him ten minutes just to locate the original report.

“So I was looking at the report and it says it was filed just over three years ago. Was there any update at all? They never found her?”

“Uh…nope. It looks like she was never located. It says here it was filed by her parents. They wanted to label it as a runaway, but the girl was over 18 so we just put it under missing persons.”

“Okay. So on the one I have, it says she has a tattoo, but there’s no description of it. Do you have any other details?”

“Hmmmm…Let me double check.” Rick tapped his foot as he waited impatiently. “Oh here’s something. They actually hand wrote it in on the back. Kinda tough to read, but I think it says ladybug. It looks like it says where underneath it, but it’s got a water stain. Must have been from the roof leak we had last hurricane season. Either way, it’s too smudged to read.”

Rick’s ears perked up at the mention of the ladybug tattoo. “My victim has a ladybug tattooed on her ankle. Her age range matches the girl in the report and she has the same hair color. I think this might be a match. You know if her parents still live in the area?”

“Let me check the database and I’ll give you a call back. What’s your desk number?” Rick gave him the info and hung up the phone. He headed to the Captain’s office right away. The door was open and him and Shane were still in conversation, so Rick tapped lightly on the door to get their attention.

“Hey. I think I might have a possible ID from a missing persons report in Monroe County. An officer from their station is gonna give me a call back here in a minute. Just wanted to give you an update,” Rick said to the two men.

“Alright, Grimes. That sounds good. Talking to Walsh here about the boats at Belews. Running into some resistance about warrants, so I think I’m gonna have him head out there and get the names of the owners for each boat. Ask ‘em for a search.” Rick nodded at his Captain and looked to Shane to gauge his reaction. He didn’t seem too happy to have to do all that work. “Get back to me as soon as you hear back from Monroe.” The Captain nodded at both officers and went back to his desk.

Shane and Rick took the hint and walked out of the office. Shane slumped down in his chair and started gathering supplies to get ready to head out to the lake. “Man, this is gonna take forever. I better not miss my date with Red tonight,” he grumbled. “You comin’ with me, man?”

Rick shook his head at his partner. “Nah, better stay here and wait for this call to come in. If I could get an ID, that would be a big break.”

“Alright. Well, I’ll see ya later.” Shane stood from his desk and headed out to the cruiser. Rick was slightly relieved to have a day away from his partner. He could rub you the wrong way sometimes. As he worked through his stack of paperwork, his desk phone rang. Rick was quick to pick it up.

“Yea, this is Grimes.”

“Hey, it’s Pearson from Monroe County. Checked it out and her parents do still live in town. Do you have any photos of the victim? If you could fax them over, I could drive out and get a positive ID.”

“Hmmm…She was in the water for a while, so facial photos might not work. But I can probably get some of the tattoo. Let me check with the M.E., and I can fax them over in about twenty minutes.” Rick got the fax number from the other man and they hung up once again. Rick got up from his desk and walked to the Medical Examiner’s office, which happened to be right next door.

He walked in the building and looked around until he finally found Maria Lopez sitting in her office. He gave a polite knock on her open door as he walked in. “Hi, Ms. Lopez. I just talked to another county and cross-checked a missing persons report and I think I found a match for our victim.”

“Oh that’s great,” Maria said, slipping her glasses off. “And, please call me Maria. I actually just got back some preliminary tests this morning. I haven’t had a chance to call you about them yet. It looks like she tested positive for a few STDs, which confirms my theory that she was a working girl. It looks like the last person she was with wore a condom too because there were trace amounts of spermicide and latex found. What else did you need from me?”

“Well, I was hoping for some photos of her tattoo. I was going to fax them over to Monroe County so they could get a possible ID from the parents,” Rick replied.

“Okay. Let me see what I can find. I’ll be right back.” She walked out of her office and into the room next door. Rick glanced around her while she was gone and saw her family photos on the walls. There was one of her with another woman and two children that piqued Rick’s interest, but before he could look at it some more she walked back in.

“Here ya go. These are the most detailed shots we have. There’s also another photo of a ring we found on her right hand. The water did some damage to it, but you can still get a good idea of how it looked. I figured it might help.”

“Thank you. That should help a lot.” Rick placed the photos into the file that he had brought with them and then looked back up at the photo he saw earlier. “That’s a nice photo you have there. Your family?”

Maria smiled at the question. “Yep. My wife and two babies. I’d be lost without them.” She gave Rick a look like she was daring him to say something.

“Oh. So you’re a…”

“Lesbian? Yes, I am,” she replied bluntly.

Rick was really curious now. He wasn’t sure if he’d meet too many openly gay people in this small, southern town. “How long have you two been together?”

“Seven years, next month. Sometimes it doesn’t seem that long, but then other times it feels like it’s been twice as long.” Rick use to feel that way about Lori, and now he wondered if one day he’d feel that same way about Daryl.

“Do you…uh…do you run into any trouble here? In this town? Being so open?” Rick asked his question with trepidation and he casually looked around to make sure there was no one outside the door who could hear him.

“Ummm…occasionally. But times really are changing. For every person who gives us a dirty look, there’s two more who support us. So you just have to find the right people, ya know?” She gave Rick a knowing smile.

“Yea. That’s probably true. Well thank you for this,” and he held up the file in his hands. He got up from the desk and walked to the doorway.

“Hey Rick,” Maria called. He stopped and turned back to look at her. “If you ever need a friend, I’m here to talk.” Rick gave her a big smile with a quick nod and then he headed back to the station to fax over the photos.


	19. Chapter 19

Rick spent most of his day at his desk waiting for a call from Officer Pearson. By lunchtime, he was out of paperwork to do, so he ate his sandwich while trying to look busy. A few minutes later his cellphone rang and saw that it was Daryl calling from work.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Hey. How’s it going?” the hunter asked.

“Pretty slow. Been at the station all day waiting on an ID for this Belews victim,” Rick grumbled.

“Hmmm…How’s Carl?”

Rick perked up at this question since he actually had a positive answer to give. “Good actually. I mean I had to camp out in front of his bedroom door this morning to get him to talk to me, but he did. Told him the truth about everything. He knows we’re together and what you do and how we actually met.” Rick glanced around to make sure no one could hear him talking.

“Well, that’s great. Now your kid knows I been to jail.”

“Well…yea. But he didn’t seem that phased by it. He knows that if I trust you, then he can too. I don’t know if he’ll eat with us tonight though. He says he’s still gotta get use to the idea.”

“Can’t blame ‘im there. So you cookin’ tonight or what?” Daryl asked. “Or do I need to bring back-up dinner in case you burn the kitchen down?”

“Oh c’mon! I’m not that bad!” Rick said indignantly. He heard the hunter chuckling on the other end of the phone. “Besides, I think you’ll take whatever I put in front of your mouth,” Rick added in a quiet, sultry tone.

“Mmmm. You may be right ‘bout that. See you in a bit then?” Daryl’s voice changed at the end, like someone walked up to him in the shop, so Rick figured it was time to end the conversation.

“Yea. I should be home by six tonight. I’ll see you later.” The two men hung up and Rick felt a slight giddiness overcome him at the thought of seeing his man tonight. Rick hadn’t felt this feeling in a long time. The bubbly, happy feeling that you get when you first get together with someone and they are all you can think about. He knew that he was in the infatuation stage right now, but he decided that he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

A few hours later, Shane walked back into the station and threw his notepad on his desk. “Man, 28 boats on that damn lake. 28 boats that I gotta hunt through registrations, get owner’s names, and then go door to door asking if I can search their boat. Probably get 28 doors slammed in my face. This is the part of cop work that I hate,” his partner grumbled.

“Yep. The stuff they don’t tell you about in training. Still waiting on that damn ID from Monroe.” At that last sentence, Rick’s desk phone rang and he sent up a silent prayer that is was an answer from Officer Pearson. He picked up the phone and said, “This is Grimes.”

“Grimes. Officer Pearson. I got the ID for you, man. They’re sure it’s her. Tattoo matches and even the ring she had on matches one they gave her for her 16th birthday. They were pretty crushed, but they seem to be relieved to at least know where she is.”

“Oh man, that’s great. Well, not great but you know what I mean.” Rick gave Shane a thumbs up to let him know the ID went through. “You didn’t happen to get any more photos of her from her parents? That way I can show them around to people here, hopefully figure out what she’s been doing here in town. Find some connections.”

“Yea, I got a couple. I’m having them faxed over as we speak. So her name is Tina Mason, her parents also called her Teeny. They looked like the strict type. Real conservative, you know? They said she just upped and left when she turned 18, so it’s probably the case of her parents enforcing rules that she didn’t want to live by. They wanted to know how she died too.”

“Well, so far it looks like she was strangled. Our M.E. confirmed that she showed signs of prostitution, so it could have been an angry john. You never know.”

“Aw hell. No parent wants to hear that about their baby girl. Hard enough to get them to look at the photos. But it looks like that’s all I got on my end,” Pearson finished.

“Well, thank you. Truly, man. We really appreciate all your help. You just gave me a big lead.”

“Anytime. Have a good one, Grimes.” Rick hung up with the officer and immediately went to the fax machine. He pulled out what looked to be three photographs and he suddenly felt a little sad at knowing that this poor girl, who had only made the mistake of going down the wrong path, had gotten killed so early in her life. Rick took the photos with him as he walked to the Captain’s office.

The Captain was on the phone and Rick stood in front of his desk, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Alright, well I got an officer standing in front of me and he looks pretty antsy so let me call you back.” The Captain hung up the phone and looked at Rick who immediately placed the photos down on the Captain’s desk.

“Tina Mason. Ran away from home at the age of 18. That’d make her 21 now. Just got a positive ID from the parents. Also went by the nickname Teeny.” Rick felt like he couldn’t get the words out fast enough.

“That’s good work, Grimes.” The Captain picked up the photos and walked out of his office. Rick followed him and they stopped at the bulletin boards that sat in the middle of the station. He turned and commanded the attention of every person in the small police station. “Alright people! Grimes just got us an ID on the Belews victim. Tina Mason, a.k.a. Teeny. I talked to the M.E. at lunch, she was definitely a working girl. Our suspect was too smart to leave any DNA behind, so we’re gonna have to work twice as hard on this. I want you to take these photos around and find out where she’s been, who knows her, what she ate for breakfast. Anything. This is the lead we’ve been waiting for. Don’t waste it.”

He turned around and smacked Rick on the back as he walked back into his office. Rick couldn’t help the slow smile that worked across his mouth and the tiny amount of pride he felt at figuring out who this victim was. He sat back down at his desk and saw a grim look on Shane’s face. “Hey, man. This is a good day. We got a lead,” he tried to reassure his partner.

“Hmmm? Uh, yea. I know. Jus’ pissed ‘bout all these boats, man. Think I’ll miss that date with Red after all.” Rick understood how his partner felt. Sacrificing your personal life for your professional one was a habit that all cops knew a little too well. He looked to his right and saw Mike and J.T just walking into the station to start their night shift.

“Hey. Why don’t you go ask Mike and J.T. to take over looking into the boats for tonight? Tell ‘em we’ll take their next night shift,” Rick suggested to his partner.

“You sure ‘bout that? I think their next night is Friday and we already got that Thursday night midnight shift. That’s two night shifts back to back. I mean, I ain’t got no problems with it, but I don’t have a kid to worry ‘bout neither.”

Rick hated to be away from Carl that much. He could be back by midnight on Thursday, but he’d have to work the whole night on Friday. He also wanted to be there for his partner though. Shane didn’t seem like he had much in his life, family and friend wise. “Yea, I can swing it. We’re off for the weekend anyways.”

“Well, alright.” Shane’s whole demeanor seemed to change. He got up and walked over to Mike and J.T. They talked for a minute and Shane came back with something akin to a smile on his face. “Okay, man. They’re good to go. Wanna head out? It’s about quitting time and I need to go home and get ready for Red.” Rick nodded and they both headed out the door.

As soon as Rick got home, he freshened up and changed his clothes. He then went straight for the kitchen and started working on dinner. He decided to make those homemade tacos that you buy a kit for at the grocery store. It was one of the first things Lori had taught him to cook after she got diagnosed. He had probably made the exact same meal at least 3 times a month for the past year. Thankfully, Carl never really got tired of it; at least he never said he did anyway.

His son played video games in the living room while he cooked. A few minutes after six, they heard a car pull up outside of the house. Rick peeked out and saw that Daryl was driving the old black pick-up this time, probably because there had been rain clouds in the sky all day. Carl saw Daryl pull in and went to turn his game off, leaving for his room. He shut the door and turned his music up and Rick felt a twinge of sadness that his son didn’t want to spend time with them.

He tried to shake the feeling off as he opened the door for Daryl. The hunter stepped into the house and Rick couldn’t help but feel some of that same giddiness as he had earlier that day. Daryl shrugged out of his jacket and Rick tossed it over the back of the couch. Without any words, the two men wrapped their arms around each other and brought their lips together.

Rick thought he could get use to this kind of greeting as Daryl brushed a hand across his ass. After a minute they separated and Rick grabbed the hunter’s hand and dragged him to the kitchen. He deposited the hunter in a chair at the kitchen table as he went back to chopping up lettuce for their meal.

“Whatcha makin’?” Daryl asked.

“Tacos. I kept it easy tonight.”

“Well, nothin’ smells burnt, so I guess we’re okay,” Daryl teased. “No Carl?”

Rick shook his head as he looked over at Daryl. “Not yet anyways. Maybe he’ll get hungry and come out to eat.”

“With cooking this fancy, why wouldn’t he?” With that tease, Rick threw the end of a tomato at the hunter, who ducked just in time. They both laughed and Rick started to set the food on the table so they could fix their plates. Suddenly they heard Carl’s door open, and they both froze for a second as they heard small footsteps make their way to the kitchen.

Carl leaned his body against the entryway and stood there for a minute with an intense look on his face. Rick tried to break the tension. “Hungry, son?”

Carl didn’t even bother to glance his father’s way. He kept his gaze on Daryl who in return kept his gaze on his empty plate, like he didn’t have any right to look at his boyfriend’s son who had caught them in the shower together. After an awkward minute, Carl finally spoke. “If you hurt my dad in any way, I’ll make sure you never ride your bike again.”

“Carl!” Rick said in shocked voice.

“No,” Daryl held a hand up to Rick. “He’s got every right to say what he wants. I can take it.” He turned his attention back to Carl. “You got it, Carl.”

“Good,” Carl said. With that, he sat down at the table and started making his plate. Rick let a breath slowly escape from his lungs as he slid down into his chair. He looked over at Daryl and the hunter gave him a small, reassuring smile.

“So, you been to jail?” Carl asked Daryl as he took a bite of a taco.

Daryl’s eyes went to Rick first and then back to Carl, and he slowly nodded as he chewed his food. After he swallowed, he finally said, “Yea. A few times.”

“For what?”

“Carl, it’s not polite to ask things like that,” Rick practically begged his son. The other two people at the table seemed to ignore him though.

“A few different things. Drunk and disorderly, assault, grand theft auto. Only once for that last one though. Boostin’ cars ain’t really my thing. That was Merle’s idea.”

“Merle’s your brother?” Carl asked. Daryl gave a quick nod in response. “Does he know about you and my dad?” The table went silent for a minute as Rick and Daryl made eye contact. Rick had to admit that he was slightly curious about this subject as well.

“Nah, not really. I ain’t been around a lot lately, so I’m sure he knows somethin’s up, but he ain’t asked.” Rick reached over and gave Daryl’s hand a light squeeze under the table to let him know that he was okay with that. Daryl gave him a quick, comforting squeeze back and then they let their hands drop.

“So, when are we going fishing again?” The tension seemed to ease from the room at that question, like Carl had decided to stop grilling Daryl. They turned to talk about normal things like fishing, Daryl’s bike, and Carl’s school subjects. Once they finished eating, Daryl was the first one up to do the dishes. Carl got up to help him and Rick decided to sit at the table and watch. He smiled as one rinsed and the other filled the dishwasher. In just a few minutes, they had the kitchen cleaned and everyone went to the living room.

Carl sat in the armchair and Rick and Daryl took the sofa, except this time they sat next to each other and somewhat discreetly held hands. They didn’t want to be too affectionate in front of Carl, at least not yet. Rick decided to turn the TV to something that they would all want to watch, and they spent the next hour chucking throw pillows at each other during commercial breaks and laughing. After a while, Carl asked to be excused to go do some homework.

“Sure. What do you have to work on?” Rick asked curiously.

“A paper on To Kill A Mockingbird,” and Carl made a funny face to show his displeasure over the subject material.

“Hey! That one’s not too bad. I kinda liked it when I read it in school. How much have you read?”

“Umm…enough,” his son replied.

“Enough? What’s that mean? Enough for what?”

“Enough to do the paper. Duh, Dad.”

“Carl, you gotta read the whole book to do the paper right. You gotta work for good grades.” His son rolled his eyes at him and sighed.

“Aw, cut ‘im some slack. I never read the whole thing either,” Daryl cut in. Rick quickly threw a pillow at Daryl’s face for not agreeing with him.

“See, Dad. Daryl’s got my back. Why don’t you?” Carl laughed as he ducked another throw pillow assault from his father.

“Go. Read the book. Do the work the right way. Please,” and he pointed for his son to go to his room.

“Yea, yea, yea. I’m going. Night Daryl.” The hunter nodded and waved goodnight to Carl as Rick’s son trudged his way to his room. Once they heard the door shut and the music turn on, Rick turned to the hunter and poked him hard in the side.

“Ow! Hey! What’s that for?” Daryl asked, rubbing the sore spot.

“That’s for undermining me in front of my son.”

“Oh come on. We both know that that book doesn’t make a damn bit of difference in the real world.” Daryl rolled his eyes at Rick.

“Maybe so. But he still has to learn it. If I could change the curriculum, I would, but until then, I need you to side with me in front of my son. Please.” Rick needed Daryl to know that in front of Carl, they would need to be a team. Not two opposing forces that Carl needed to decide which one to side with. Because kids always chose the cool side, not the sensible one.

Daryl bit his lip and wrapped his arms around Rick’s waist, pulling him in close. “Alright. I’m sorry. I ain’t been around kids much, so I’m still getting use to this. From here on out, I’ll agree with you. At least in front of Carl,” and he gave Rick a wink.

“Thank you,” Rick said. He wrapped his arms around Daryl’s shoulders and brought his lips down to the hunter’s. They slowly started to deepen their kiss and lips parted to let tongues pass. Rick brought his hands down and slipped them underneath Daryl’s shirt to rub across his bare skin. Daryl worked rough kisses down into Rick’s neck, giving him the occasional nibble that sent a shiver down Rick’s spine.

Rick turned his head, effectively pulling his neck away from the hunter, and he brought his mouth to Daryl’s ear. Rick blew a hot breath into it and then licked his way around the edge. Daryl moaned through clenched teeth and he brought a hand down to Rick’s crotch and rubbed at the tented erection Rick had on display. The hunter wrapped his fingers around the denim clad member and gave a few squeezes, turning Rick into the one who had to hold back moans.

Daryl started to reach for Rick’s zipper, but Rick put his hand on top of the hunter’s to stop him. “What about Carl?” he whispered. Daryl looked towards the hallway and they both listened for a few seconds. It didn’t sound like Carl was going anywhere, but Rick was super anxious to risk something like that. Daryl leaned over and grabbed one of the throw pillows that had gotten tossed around. He sat it on the other side of Rick and smiled.

“The pillow shield worked pretty good last time,” the hunter said and Rick had to hold back a loud laugh. Before he could protest anymore, Daryl kissed at his neck and he reached a hand down, quickly unzipping Rick’s pants. He reached a hand in and fished around for the opening in Rick’s boxer-briefs. It took him a minute and he was cursing under his breath as he searched. “Damn. This is why I don’t wear any of this shit. Jus’ gets in the way.”

Finally he found the opening, and he pulled Rick’s thick, hard cock through. The touch of Daryl’s hand on his bare flesh made him sigh in pleasure. Daryl grabbed Rick’s hand and brought it to his own massive erection that pressed through his jeans. Rick gave him a couple strokes over his pants and then gently unzipped him as well. Daryl’s cock was much easier to find without the underwear and it poked through the zipper with ease.

Both men started to stroke each other on the sofa in the soft glow of the TV, and they kissed hungrily at each other’s mouths as their pleasure built. Rick broke away from Daryl’s mouth and went back to his ear, which he knew made the hunter crazy. As he licked and bit, he continued to rub his hand up and down Daryl’s shaft and the hunter’s breath steadily increased.

Daryl decided to pull his head away and then brought a quick kiss to Rick’s lips before he spoke in a low, husky voice. “Talk to me. I wanna hear your voice.”

Rick flushed in embarrassment. “What do you want me to say?”

“Anything. I jus’ need to hear you. Talk to me like you did the other night.” Daryl was half-begging, half-commanding as he kept working his hand up and down Rick’s cock. He caught a drop of pre-cum at the head and swirled it around with his thumb, causing Rick to shiver in pleasure.

“Mmmm. You mean when I told you I wanted your lips wrapped around my cock? When I said I wanted you to swallow every drop of my cum?” Rick asked in a low, breathy whisper. He ran his hand up and down Daryl’s hard length as he spoke, working him from base to tip.

“Oh, fuck yes,” Daryl moaned quietly. “Keep going.”

“Or you wanna hear about how the other morning, I let you fuck me until I was screaming your name. How I couldn’t get enough of this beautiful, long cock pounding into me. You like that, baby?” Daryl’s eyes were filled with lust as he watched Rick speak those dirty words.

“You know I do. Don’t stop. I’m almost there,” Daryl begged as he started to thrust into Rick’s hand.

Rick could feel his own orgasm about to peak, but he wanted to wait for Daryl. “Mmm. I love to watch you like this. I love to watch you work those hips and see your cock slide through my hand. It’s so fucking sexy. Come for me, baby.” And with that last sentence, Daryl surged into Rick’s hand and spilled over his fingers while he threw his head back in ecstasy. Even while he came, he continued to stroke Rick, and watching his lover come undone was all Rick needed to be sent over the edge.

He came into the hunter’s palm and he bit into Daryl’s shoulder to keep any loud moans from escaping. They sat there for a minute while they caught their breath, Rick’s head against Daryl and Daryl’s head tossed back on the couch. Finally, they both pulled their slick covered hands away and stood up. They shuffled to the kitchen with pants still undone so they could clean up the mess they had made.

After many paper towels were disposed of, the two men zipped themselves up and went back to the living room. Daryl looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was late. “It’s gettin’ to be that time.”

“Oh I see how it is. Dinner, handjob, then it’s time to go,” Rick teased. He grabbed Daryl’s hips and brought the hunter close.

“You didn’t seem to be complaining a few minutes ago,” the hunter responded, and he smiled as he brought a kiss to the other man’s lips. Rick walked him to the door and they held each other tight for a minute. Rick was the first to let go and they kissed one more time before Daryl walked out the door. He watched the hunter pull off before he closed and locked it. He suddenly felt a big empty feeling now that he was alone. Rick went to his bedroom, threw himself on the mattress, and sighed as he realized that he was falling hard for Daryl Dixon.


	20. Chapter 20

The next day came quicker than Rick had wanted, and he spent most of the day out on patrol with Shane. Now that they had an ID for the victim, they took her photos around to any location they could think of to try and get any information they could. No matter who they asked though, no one recognized the girl. Rick wondered if the girl lived in another county and the suspect had killed her and drove all the way to Belews just to dump the body.

But something like that didn’t really fit the profile. This killing seemed to be spontaneous. He may have tied her hands, but he also strangled her. A sure sign of a rage-induced murder. After doing something like that, the killer would have been panicking and quick to be rid of the body.  Rick was getting more frustrated as the day went on and as each person they questioned didn’t have any information. On the other hand, his partner seemed to be in a fantastic mood.

Shane walked into the station that morning whistling a tune and he had a smug smile plastered across his face. Rick knew that meant his date must have gone well. Before he could ask any details, Shane gave them up freely. “Oh man. Last night was great. Red really knows her stuff, if you know what I mean,” and Shane winked at his partner.

“Yea? Did you get to know her better? Like, maybe her name?” Rick teased. He was a little tired of hearing her called Red.

“Yes, sir. Melissa. And Melissa certainly knows my name. She said it enough last night.” Rick rolled his eyes at Shane’s bawdy attempts to get a rise out of him.

“Well, that’s good man. I’m glad you had a good time. You ready to roll?” He stood from the desk to head out to the cruiser.

“Yea. Let’s go kick some ass today. Hey, maybe I can see if Melissa’s got a friend. What kind of women you like?” Shane asked as they got in the car.

“Uh…it depends, really. I’m not really trying to date right now, though. Still a little too soon to Lori, you know?” Shane nodded solemnly at Rick and took the hint to change the subject. Between questioning people about the victim, they had very few calls from dispatch. Mostly traffic violations that needed the occasional ticket.

At the end of their shift, they headed back to the station with just as little information as they had that morning. Before they could even sit in their chairs, the Captain waved them into his office. Both men walked in and took a quick seat across from his desk.

“Alright. So what’d we get today?” he asked. Both officers seemed a little hangdog as they told him that they hadn’t learned any new information. The Captain didn’t seem too happy, but he didn’t let the news discourage him either. “Damn. I was really hoping the ID would give us some good leads. Shane, you finish finding all those boat owners?”

“Uh, yes sir. Mike and J.T. helped me out last night, so we’ve got the full list,” Shane replied.

“Good. I was hoping that we’d get somewhere today and wouldn’t need it, but I guess we will. Tomorrow, you two go to each owner and state our case. At least this way, the ones that say no, we can add to our list of possible suspects.”

“Yea, but sir, in this town, that might as well be everyone. People want their privacy.” Shane was pleading to get out of this duty. But the Captain didn’t seem to be budged by Rick’s partner.

“Still has to be done, Walsh. See you tomorrow, gentlemen.” The Captain dismissed both men. Shane and Rick walked back to their desks and sat down. Shane leaned over and gently beat his head against the wooden tabletop.

“Oh man, this is gonna take forever. Look at this list.” Shane picked up the pieces of paper, two pages long, full of addresses. They were going to have to visit each one tomorrow. Rick sighed and rubbed at his eyes. It had been a long day and he was ready to head home.

“Yep. Well I’m gonna head out and enjoy some time with Carl. See you tomorrow. We’ll get through those in no time.” Rick tried to reassure Shane, but his partner only huffed out a laugh and rolled his eyes. Rick headed to his jeep and pulled out of the station.

He pulled into his driveway a few minutes later and it was just after six. When he walked inside, he saw his son sitting on the couch. He felt relief when he saw that instead of playing video games, his son was actually reading the book they had talked about the previous night. “Hey. It’s not too bad, is it?” Rick asked, nodding towards the book.

Carl made a face at his dad and shrugged. “It’s not great. But I figured I’d do it ‘the right way’ and read the whole thing. Even Daryl said I should.”

“Daryl? When’d he say that?” Rick asked as he sat down in the armchair and flipped through the mail.

“He called about an hour ago for you. Told him you should be home after six and he said he’d call back. He asked if I had read anymore and said that it’d be worthwhile to read it since they’d still be asking me questions about it when I went to college. Blah, blah, blah. Stuff like that.”

“Oh. Well, he’s right, you know.” Rick felt a small amount of delight that his boyfriend had encouraged his son to do his homework.

“Yea…so y’all say,” and Carl rolled his eyes slightly. Rick smiled and walked down the hallway to his bedroom to change. A few minutes later, he heard the phone ring and Carl pick up. “Dad! It’s Daryl!”

Rick picked up the extension in his room. “I got it!” he yelled down to Carl and shut his bedroom door. “Well hello.”

“Hey. What you doin’?” he heard from the hunter on the other end.

“Just got done changing. Sitting on the bed, talking to you now.”

“Mmmm. Wish I could be on that bed with you,” Daryl mumbled in his low, sexy voice.

“Me too,” Rick smiled. “What did you do today? Kinda surprised that I didn’t hear from you earlier.”

“This mornin’ Merle was buggin’ me to go fishin’, so I went jus’ to get him off my back. Then I worked one of my side jobs this afternoon.”

“Which side job is that?” Rick asked curiously.

“I was thinkin’ I could show you. You and Carl. Maybe on Friday. When do you get off?”

Rick let a small groan pass his lips as he remembered that he had switched shifts. “Oh, shit. I just remembered I have work all night, Friday night. And I work until midnight tomorrow. I don’t know what I’m gonna do about Carl.” He bit his lip as he tried to think of a solution.

“Well, I can check in on him tomorrow night if you need me to. What time do you go in, Friday?”

“Uh, I think I have to be in at 10, won’t be back until like six the next morning.”

“So, I can take you and Carl to show you what I planned, and then…I don’t know. I could stay the night if you need me to…” Daryl’s voice trailed off and Rick knew that he was serious.

“You don’t have to do that. Not if you don’t want to.” Rick felt nervous as he spoke. His boyfriend was offering to watch his son and it felt like their relationship had gone to another level. He felt excited, but he felt apprehensive too.

“I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want to. I like Carl. He’s a cool kid. Probably wouldn’t hurt if we spent some time together.”

“Yea. You’re right about that. I heard about what you said about the book. I really appreciate you being on my side for that.” Rick suddenly wished Daryl were laying next to him instead of being on the other end of the phone. He really wanted to curl up next to the hunter right about now.

“Well you said such nice things after we talked, I figured I could help you out.” Rick’s face beamed as he realized the hunter was talking about all the dirty talk they had had last night.

“What can I say? I had some good persuasion. So I should tell Carl to expect you tomorrow night?”

“Yea. I’ll check and make sure he’s not stuffin’ himself full o’ junk food and playing video games or whatever it is that kids do these days.”

Rick laughed at the hunter’s response. “Okay. Well, I’ll let him know. Talk to you tomorrow?”

“You got it, officer,” Daryl teased.

“Alright. Night, baby,” Rick mumbled to the phone.

“Mmmm. Night.” With that they hung up and Rick stared at his phone for a minute, still wishing that Daryl was with him right now. He pulled himself up from the bed and went back to the living room. Carl was still reading and Rick tossed a throw pillow at him to get his attention.

“What?” Carl asked as he chucked the pillow back at his father.

“So I have to work until midnight tomorrow night and then I have to work all night Friday. Won’t be back until the next morning. Would you be okay if Daryl checked in on you tomorrow? Just to put my mind at ease.” Rick waited for his son’s reply, but he oddly didn’t feel as nervous as he thought he would.

“Yea, that’s fine I guess,” Carl shrugged.

“And he mentioned taking us somewhere on Friday, after you got home from school, and then staying the night to keep an eye out while I’m gone. This isn’t gonna be a regular thing, but I figured while I need the help, and he’s offering…” Rick trailed off.

“I’m not a baby, you know. I think I could handle a night alone.”

“I know you aren’t a baby. Like I said, this is more for my peace of mind while I still think you’re a little too young to be on your own for that long. Is all that okay? If it’s not, I can talk to Shane and see if I can work something out. But we knew the schedule at a new station would be crazy until I could work my way up the ladder.” Rick leaned against the back of the armchair while he talked; his son remained on the couch flipping through his book.

“Nah, it’s fine. I guess. Where’s he taking us?”

“Not sure. It’s a place where he does some extra work. He was kinda mysterious about it. So I guess we’ll see.” Rick widened his eyes a little in excitement and Carl rolled his. They spent the rest of the night around the house. Carl kept reading as Rick cooked dinner and afterwards they spent some time watching TV. A little while later, both father and son headed for their bedrooms, hugging just before they split in the hallway. Rick couldn’t help but think that his bed felt a little empty as he dozed off to sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

Even though Rick didn’t have to go in until later that afternoon, he still woke up at his normal time so he could spend a few moments with Carl that morning. While Carl was in the shower, he went to the kitchen and cooked some eggs and bacon. He even toasted a few pieces of bread and made a plate for him and Carl. Just as he put the finishing touches on the breakfast, his son walked into the kitchen, all ready for school.

“Cool. Thanks, Dad.” They both sat at the table and eagerly ate every last morsel on their plates. They chatted some while Rick put the dishes in the dishwasher and Carl got his back pack ready.

“Hey, you want a ride?” Rick asked.

“Nah, me and Jake usually swap homework on the bus. You know, to check and make sure it’s right…”

“Yea, I’m sure,” Rick said sarcastically. “I didn’t know you guys rode on the same bus.” Rick silently cursed himself for being so out of the loop. He felt like he had been so caught up in his own life that he was missing out on part of Carl’s.

“He gets off like four stops ahead of me.”

“You oughta invite him over sometime. I wouldn’t mind meeting him.”

“Eh, I don’t know.” Carl gave his father a shrug. “Maybe…” Rick suddenly wondered if  his son was embarrassed of his father because he was dating a man and he didn’t want his friends to know. The last thing Rick wanted was for Carl to be ashamed of him. He really hoped that wasn’t the case.  

“Alright, well I’m gonna go. Have a good day, Dad.” Carl smiled at his father as he pulled his backpack on. Rick was pulled out of his deep thoughts as his son walked to the front door.

“You too! Daryl should be by later tonight! Call me if you need me!” Rick yelled to him as he walked out the door. Rick sighed and hoped that he’d heard most of that.

He spent the rest of his morning picking up the house and then doing his normal exercise routine. As he did his typical push-ups in front of the TV, a news story came on about the case he was working. Rick paused to watch for a second.

“Police are still investigating the suspicious death of a woman found in Belews Creek. She has now been identified as Tina Mason of Monroe County and was reported missing three years ago. Although cause of death has not been released, police can confirm that it was through violent means and are currently looking at several suspects. If you have any information on this case, feel free to contact….” Rick changed the channel at the end of the story. He couldn’t help but scoff at whoever had written that. Several suspects? Rick wished he knew who those people were because he sure as hell hadn’t caught a break yet.

After he finished his workout, he hopped in the shower. Next was a quick shave and then he put on his uniform and headed into work. Shane was already sitting at his desk with a less than eager expression etched into his features. He definitely didn’t seem like he was ready to check all these addresses.

They headed out together and started at the north side of the county. Unfortunately, Shane was pretty much right about the people of this town. Everyone wanted their privacy and ended up closing their doors on the officers, if they even bothered to open them at all. Most people seemed to be worried that they were being served a warrant. It was well after dark before they got through the first half of the list.

They finally decided to take a break and stopped for some burgers at a fast-food place. While Shane went inside to use the bathroom, Rick took the chance to call the house. The phone rang a handful of times, and Rick was starting to get worried, before Carl finally answered.

“Hello?” His son seemed out of breath.

“Hey. What are you doing? Why you breathing so fast?” Rick asked, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.

“Oh, we just got back. I heard the phone ringing outside and I ran in to get it. I knew it’d be you and I didn’t want you flying home with the lights flashing if I didn’t pick up.”

“Got back from where?”

“Oh, Dad! It was so cool. Daryl took me out on his bike! We went all around town. It was awesome!” Carl sounded like he was pumped full of adrenaline.

“He did, did he? Did you wear a helmet?”

“Really, Dad? You think Daryl’s gonna let me on the back of his bike without a helmet? Is that a real question?”

“Ok, ok. I was just double checking. Did you eat yet?”

“Not yet, but we grabbed some stuff to-go from the diner and brought it back here.”

“Alright. Well, you go eat and put Daryl on the phone for me. Love you son.” Carl didn’t even bother to say anything back as he handed the phone over to the hunter. Rick could hear shuffling in the background.

“Hey,” Daryl said.

“You took him on the bike? Didn’t wanna check with me before you did that?”

“I figured it’d be okay. He wore a helmet, we were safe. Don’t get your panties in a twist,” Daryl chuckled. “He loved it. Don’t be surprised if he wants his first car to be a motorcycle instead.”

Rick softened at the way the hunter spoke about his son, and the twinge of anger he was feeling faded away. “Well…I’m glad he liked it. Thank you for taking him out. At least he didn’t spend the whole night playing video games. I feel like I can’t tear him away from that crap.”

“Just gotta be persistent, I s’pose.” Just as Daryl finished his sentence, Rick saw Shane walk out of the bathroom and head back to the car.

“Shane’s coming back, so I gotta go. You go eat, and I’ll be back in a little while.” They quickly hung up as Shane opened the car door.

“Alright, man. I feel ‘bout ten pounds lighter. Think we can do anymore of this list tonight?” Before Rick could answer his partner, they got a call from dispatch over the radio. Apparently there was a disturbance at County Line, the bar they had been to what seemed like ages ago now. Rick hit the siren and they headed over. Three minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot and hopped out of the car.

As they walked in, Rick let his shoulders slump a little at the sight in front of him. Of course the disturbance would have to be from Merle Dixon and a couple of his goons. Merle sat at the bar and seemed to be raising hell over not being served any more drinks by the bartender. He and his friends looked to be three sheets to the wind. Shane looked over at Rick and he seemed just as displeased to have to deal with the elder Dixon.

“Mack, if you don’t gimme ‘nother drink, I’m gonna smash this bar to hell,” Merle slurred. He tossed an empty shot glass at the bartender and barely held his balance against the counter in front of him. The bartender shot Rick and Shane a pleading look to get the drunk redneck out of his establishment. His “meathead” friends didn’t look any more sober than their fearless leader and Rick knew this was going to be work.

Rick decided to take lead and he walked up to the counter. He knew better than to put a hand on Merle, that was how you got a fist thrown at you, so he just spoke in an even voice instead. “Alright, Merle. I think you’ve had enough. Let me and Shane give you and your friends a ride home.”

Merle heard his name and he slowly turned his inebriated frame towards Rick as a sluggish, drunk smile spread across his face. “Well, lookie who it is! Rick! Hey, errybody! It’s Rick!” Merle pointed to Rick as he glanced around the bar. Each time he said Rick’s name, he made sure to put extra emphasis on it. “Hey, Rick! Ya wanna join us fer a drink? Ya know, I woulda invited m’brother out tonight, but I can’t seem to find’im. Say, do YOU know where he is, Rick?”  

Rick felt a small blush creep up his neck at the mention of Daryl, but he tried to keep his cool. “Well, Merle. Can’t really say I keep tabs on your brother. How about we make this easy and you get in the back of my cruiser without cuffs this time and we drive you home?”

“Aw, that’s no fun. I think me and my buds need jus’ one more drink! C’mon, Mack! Gimme ‘nother!” Merle smacked his hand on top of the bar. The bartender just ignored him, but Shane seemed to be a little fed up with the games.

“Damn it, Merle! C’mon, let’s go,” and Shane walked up to latch a hand onto Merle’s arm. Apparently he didn’t learn anything from the last time, and as soon as his hand touch Merle’s arm, Merle reared back to hit Shane. Except this time Merle was drunk as a skunk and he lost his balance and quickly toppled over.

He knocked over one of his friends as he fell, but the last one decided to stick up for Merle. He leaned back and then within an instant, he brought his head straight forward and head butted Shane right in the nose. Shane brought a hand to his face and at first looked shocked, then he looked furious. “Fuck! Goddammit, man!” Blood started to pour from his face.

The head butter ended up knocked out on the floor. Apparently Shane’s nose did more damage to his head rather than vice versa. Mack tossed Rick a bar towel and Rick brought it to Shane’s face. Shane yanked the towel from Rick’s hand and stomped towards the bar’s bathroom in the back. Rick sighed and rolled his eyes at the three men on the ground in front of him. He decided that cuffing them and taking them to the holding cell to sober up would probably be the best bet.

He cuffed the two goons first and got the bartender to help drag them to the cruiser. Finally all that was left was Merle and the elder Dixon seemed resigned to being cuffed. He didn’t even bother resisting for Rick which made him think that Merle had an extra special hate for Shane. He sat him in the back with his two friends and then Rick climbed into the front seat and waited for his partner.

“Ya know, I thought I beat the queer outta my brother years ago,” Merle said absentmindedly.

Rick glanced in the back and saw the other two were passed out and Merle was looking in Rick’s direction. Rick sighed because he had no idea what to say. “Okay…Merle.” He gave a shrug for good measure.

“Don’t act like ya don’t know what I’m talkin’bout.”

“Even if I did, why would I talk to you about it?”

“Cuz he’s my damn brother! And I’ll be damned if I let’im be with a fuckin’ man, much less a piss poor cop like you! My brother ain’t no fag!” Merle kicked the metal cage that separated the front seat from the back seat.

Rick finally felt the anger he’d been holding back bubble up inside of him and whipped his body around and looked Merle dead in the eyes. “You know what, Merle? Fuck you! If I wanna be with your brother, then I’ll goddamn be with him! No one in this town gives a damn what you think, least of all Daryl! So you can be mad all you want, but that don’t change the fact that I love your brother and we’re gonna do what we need to do to be together.” Just then, Rick saw Shane walk out the bar door and head for the cruiser. “Now shut your fucking mouth!” he added with a smack to the metal.  

As Shane climbed into the front seat, he still held the same bar towel to his nose. It looked as though most of the bleeding had stopped, but Shane’s face was swollen and turning black and blue. Rick’s heartrate doubled and he started to sweat bullets at the thought of Merle going on about him and Daryl. He drove the cruiser back to the station and surprisingly enough, Merle kept his mouth zipped shut. Rick didn’t even dare to look back at him, in case that incited the man any further.

“You got this, man? I gotta go find some ice or something…” Shane mumbled through the towel when they pulled into the station’s parking lot. He looked and sounded completely miserable.

“Yea, I’m just gonna toss ‘em into the holding cell. I can handle it.” Rick patted his partner’s shoulder and let him head into the station while he stayed behind to deal with what was in the back of the cruiser. Rick started with the two passed out men, who woke just enough to stumble into the holding cell and promptly fall to the floor. Lastly, he went back out to the cruiser and grabbed Merle.

The elder Dixon seemed to have sobered slightly, and he managed to make his way into the station without too much help from Rick. As he walked into the cell, he turned around to look at Rick as he slid the bars closed. “You know, I think I underestimated you,” Merle said with an even gaze.

“Oh really? How so?” Rick asked. He wasn’t too interested in what Merle had to say, but he was Daryl’s brother, so he decided to listen, just this once.

“Of all the queer, sissy boys I’ve had to beat up, not one of them talked to me the way you just did. You better watch your back, Grimes. My brother’s a lot more loyal to me than you think.” With that, Merle turned his back to Rick and walked over to one of the benches. He kicked the man off who was already laying on it and took the spot for himself.

Rick walked away and tried to shake off Merle’s words. Anxiety started to eat at him as he thought about all the things that had been said in just the span of half an hour. Not to mention that Rick told Merle that he loved his brother even before he had uttered those words to Daryl himself. He stood by his desk and rubbed his hands over his face, trying to rid his body of some tension he felt.

“Hey, Grimes.” Rick turned to the voice that called him and was surprised to see that it was the Captain, still in his office. He walked over and stood in the doorway as the Captain addressed him. “How’d it go today? With the boats.”

“Not too good, sir. I’m afraid Shane was right about that.”

“Hmmm. Well damn. And no luck showing her picture around?”

“No sir. No one recognized her.”

“Have you tried checking with some of the local girls working the streets?” Captain asked.

“Uh…we tried that before we had the ID, but no one seemed too willing to talk to the police. It was tough.”

“Why don’t you go ahead and try it again. I’ve just seen Shane’s face and I’m sending him home for the night. But why don’t you put on some civilian clothes and get a car from the impound lot. Go ask around for her, like you’ve seen her before. Might get a different response.”

Rick wasn’t too big on doing undercover work, but he figured his Captain might be right. At this point, he was willing to try anything to get a good lead. Rick finished with the Captain and walked to the locker room. He passed Shane on the way and waved goodnight to his partner, who still looked pretty unhappy. Rick quickly changed into the spare set of civilian clothes he kept at the station. He grabbed an old Crown Vic from the impound lot and set to work.

He spent the next hour driving around talking to various prostitutes, making it clear that he was only looking for one certain girl. Every woman gave him the brush off once they realized he wasn’t a paying customer. Finally about an hour later, he stopped by a streetlamp on the edge of town and asked one more lady. Well, technically she wasn’t a lady. She was a six foot tall black man with a blonde wig and six inch heels.

“Hey, sugar. Lookin’ for a date?” she asked in a high, yet husky voice as she leaned towards Rick’s window.

“Actually, I’m looking for someone who I use to see, but I can’t find her anymore. Do you recognize her?” and he held up a photo. The woman gave Rick an exasperated look and started to turn and walk away. “Wait! Please! Just look at the photo! Her name was Tina, but sometimes she went by Teeny.”

The woman stopped and leaned back down to Rick. She held out her hand that was decorated with long red fingernails. “Twenty bucks and I’ll tell you all I know.” Rick almost rolled his eyes, but this was the first response he’d gotten all night that wasn’t a “Get the hell outta here.” He pulled a twenty from his pocket and placed it in her hand, which gripped the crisp bill tight.

“Do you know anything about her?” Rick asked.

“I ain’t seen her in a while honey. Probably three weeks at least. She used to work the corner by the trailer park on Camden. I know because her and her little friend kicked me off their turf. She seemed sweet, but the girl she was with was a real cunt. Yelled ‘No trannies’ at me.”

“What’d her friend look like? Do you know her name?” Rick was eager to get as many details as possible.

“Hmmm. I think she might have been called Misty. Short, with stringy blonde hair. She looked real coked out, honey. I kinda felt bad for the girl, Teeny. She seemed too sweet for the life. Must have gotten mixed up with the wrong kind of people.”

“And you didn’t?” Rick asked curiously.

“Oh honey. You’re nice. But make no mistake, I choose where I’m at. Anything else I can do for ya?” She gave Rick a big toothy grin.

“Do you have a name? Just in case I need to talk to you again?”

“They call me Peaches baby. You can always find me here.” She held her hands out like they weren’t on a dark, dirty street corner but instead on the steps of an opera house.

“Do you have a real name Peaches?” Rick asked. He wanted a legitimate name to be able to put down in his file, not a street nickname.

“Do you have another twenty for me, sweetie?” and she held out another empty hand. Rick smiled at her response. This woman knew how to play the game, but Rick was all tapped out.

“Well, it was nice talking to you, Peaches. Thank you and have a nice night.” Rick put the Crown Vic in drive and headed by the trailer park on Camden. No one was out tonight it seemed, so he waited in the car for about half an hour to see if anyone would appear. When no one did, he decided to head back to the station with the update.

The Captain had gone home, so Rick sat at his desk and wrote him a quick email so he would see what Rick had found as soon as he came in the next day. After that, it was time for Rick to head home himself. He pulled his jeep into his driveway and glanced over to see that Daryl’s bike was still parked in front of the house.

As he walked inside, he glanced in the living room and found the hunter sprawled out on the couch. Rick watched his lover sleep peacefully for a just a moment before he brushed a hand against Daryl’s cheek. Daryl woke easily and smiled at Rick as he slowly stretched. “C’mon,” Rick whispered and he held out his hand to the hunter, who grabbed it and they walked to the bedroom.

Both men undressed wordlessly and lied down in bed. Rick turned on his side and faced Daryl as he put his head on the hunter’s shoulder. Daryl wrapped an arm around Rick and rubbed his back in soothing circles as they enjoyed their quiet moment together. Rick hated to break the peaceful silence, but he knew that he needed to tell Daryl about Merle. “Saw your brother tonight,” he mumbled to his lover.

Daryl’s hand froze in place and his body seemed to tense up at Rick’s words. “Yea? Where?”

Rick placed a brief kiss on the hunter’s chest before he spoke. “County Line. He was pretty drunk, causing some problems. We had to bring him in, let him sober up in the holding cell.”

“Sounds like Merle,” Daryl chuckled.

“He knows, Daryl.” Rick bit his lip as he waited for the hunter to process what he said.

“Knows? Knows what?”

Rick sighed because he knew that Daryl knew exactly what he was saying; he just didn’t want to admit it. Rick slowly sat up and looked down at his lover. “He knows about us. He knows that we’re together.”

Daryl huffed out a breath and looked away from Rick; a conflicted expression crossed his face. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Rick scooted up behind him and wrapped his arms around the hunter’s torso, resting his chin on Daryl’s shoulder. Daryl was looking down at his hands and he let go of a big sigh. “What’d he say?” mumbled the hunter.

“A lot of stuff. Nothing that needs repeating.”

“What’d he say, Rick?” Daryl’s voice got firm.

“He said he thought he had…beat the queer out of you. And that no brother of his was gonna be with a man, ‘specially not a cop.”

“And what’d you say?”

“I tried not to say anything. But he got under my skin…” Rick trailed off.

“And?” Daryl turned his head to the side to look at Rick’s face behind him.

“And I told him that we didn’t care what he thought. We were gonna do whatever it took to be together. And then he told me to watch my back.” Anxiety flooded Rick’s body as he waited for Daryl to say something. Finally the hunter stood up from the bed and started to pace back and forth across the bedroom.

“Why’d you say anything?” Daryl huffed out, clearly agitated. He gripped his hands into fists and his body looked tense.

“How could I not say anything? He said no brother of his was gonna be a fag. I couldn’t let him talk about you like that!”

“Why not? He’s been doin’ it my whole goddamn life! I’ve made it this far, ain’t I? You don’t understand. He’s gonna have it out for you now!” Rick reached out and grabbed Daryl’s hand to stop his pacing. He pulled the hunter towards the bed and looked up at him.

“I don’t care what he tries to do. As long as I have you, then it’s all worth it to me.” He brought the hunter’s hand to his lips and kissed his palm.

“He ain’t like Carl, Rick. He ain’t just gonna accept it. What if he tells people? The guys at the station find out? Carl’s friends find out? How you gonna feel then?” Daryl asked with an expression full of worry.

“The exact same way I feel now. I told you this wasn’t a fling. I figured that after a while, we’d tell people anyways. I never figured this was something we were gonna try to hide forever. Is that what you wanted?” Rick suddenly felt completely deflated. If that’s what Daryl wanted, then he didn’t know how long they were to make it. It was a small town and Rick knew that secrets got out quick.

Daryl sat back on the bed, their hands still linked. “No, not really. But who’s gonna be okay with this? Our bosses? Probably not. Our family? Besides Carl, probably not. I’ve never…never felt like this about anyone. Never had the need to be open ‘bout it…” Daryl’s voice trailed off and he looked down at their intertwined fingers.

Rick picked up Daryl’s chin and brought their eyes together. “This is new to me too. But I’m willing to go all in. Forget about Merle. Let him do what he wants, his decisions don’t affect you anymore.” Rick brought his lips to Daryl’s and they slowly kissed.

Rick felt the tension leave Daryl’s body while they embraced one another. After their lips separated, Rick was completely exhausted. This day had been long and stressful. He scooted back down into the bed and motioned for Daryl to lay with him. This time Daryl was the little spoon and Rick wrapped his arms tightly around him as they relaxed against the pillows. Rick wanted to say those three little words so bad, but after the emotional conversation they’d just had, he didn’t think it would be a good idea to add to it. So instead he kissed Daryl’s shoulder and they went to sleep.


	22. Chapter 22

Rick woke to a hand tickling at his side and small kisses being placed on his neck. He was still pretty sleepy so he figured it must be early. He squinted his eyes open and glanced at the clock. It was six in the morning. “Mmm…it’s too early. What d’ya want?” he grumbled to the man who was currently accosting him.

Daryl continued with his kissing and Rick soon felt the poke of an erection in his hip. He slowly smiled and rolled over to face his lover. He wrapped his arms around the hunter and brought him in for a good morning kiss. “It’s been a long time since I’ve woken up this early for morning sex,” Rick said in a sleepy drawl.

“Wanna get in the shower?” Daryl asked in his sexy, low voice. He then pulled the covers off their bodies and stood up, pulling Rick up with him.

Rick groaned as he was tugged towards the bathroom. “You’re killing me…” he complained. But as soon as Daryl had him stepping underneath the hot water, he sighed in pleasure. The hunter ran his hands through Rick’s wet hair and then lathered it up with shampoo, massaging his scalp. It felt so good; Rick thought he was going to fall asleep under the spray.

After Daryl rinsed his hair, he took the soap and ran it up and down Rick body. By the time he was finished, Rick felt like he was squeaky clean and every muscle in his body was relaxed. He returned the favor for Daryl, and after a few minutes both men were spotless. Once the work was over, Daryl pulled Rick into his arms and crashed his lips down on top of the other man’s.

They worked their wet mouths together, each one trying to get the upper hand in the embrace. Their tongues danced as Rick pulled back on Daryl’s wet head of hair. They finally pulled apart so they could each catch a breath and they both ended up laughing at one another. Rick teased Daryl’s lower lip with a quick bite and Daryl smacked Rick on the ass as punishment. Rick jumped at the smack and a small giggle worked its way up his throat.

“Oh, you like that?” Daryl asked teasingly. He brought his hand down to Rick’s ass again and gave the cheek a smooth rub before he pulled back one more time and smacked it again. Rick let a slight yelp escape his mouth after the hunter’s hand made contact and he could see the dark look of lust cover Daryl’s eyes. Rick bit his lip and rocked his erection into his lover’s hip, letting him know how much he wanted him.

Daryl unwrapped Rick’s hands from his body and turned him around. He faced him towards the shower wall and placed his arms against it. He grabbed Rick’s hips and pulled his lower body out, using his feet to slide Rick’s ankles apart. “Don’t move,” he whispered in Rick’s ear. The hunter slowly started to place gentle kisses on Rick’s shoulders as he rubbed his hands up and down his body. He ran a hand over Rick’s bobbing erection, touching it briefly and causing Rick to shiver.

He gradually started to lower his kisses until he was at Rick’s tailbone. Then he worked his mouth around Rick’s ass, giving each cheek a bite and causing Rick to pull his hips away from the hunter. Daryl brought a quick smack to Rick’s behind again. “I said don’t move. You gonna be good for me?”

Rick held back a groan at Daryl’s sexy, commanding side. He never knew he would like something like this, but with the hunter, he loved it. He felt another quick smack on his ass. “I didn’t hear you,” said Daryl.

“Yes.”

“Yes what? What do I like to hear?” Daryl said with a quick bite to Rick’s hipbone.

“Yes baby,” Rick replied and he heard a grunt of approval from Daryl. He felt a hand reach between his legs and the hunter wrapped his fingers around Rick’s stiff length and give it a few strokes. Rick leaned his forehead against the wall and sighed in pleasure. The hunter brought his hand away and instead started rub up and down Rick’s legs. He ran his hands up Rick’s thighs and then reached his ass. Daryl placed a hand on each cheek and gently pulled them apart.

The hunter moaned at the sight before him. “Mmmm…you got such a nice ass. And it’s all mine. Looks good enough to eat.” And with that he lowered his head and placed a kiss on Rick’s back entrance. A shiver went through Rick’s entire body at the contact. He never expected Daryl to do that, and he never expected that he would like it so much. “You like that?” he heard the hunter ask.

“Yes baby,” Rick replied obediently, his breath hitching slightly.

“Good,” Daryl said. He brought his head back down and this time, instead of a kiss, he used his tongue. He licked in a small, tight circle and Rick felt a jolt of pleasure sing through his body. He wanted desperately to reach down and stroke himself, but he knew Daryl would punish him with another smack and he didn’t want the licking to stop.

Daryl continued to work his tongue and Rick could feel little droplets of pre-cum leak from the head of his cock. Rick was desperate for some sort of friction and he begged, “Please baby…” The hunter seemed to have been waiting for the request because he immediately brought his hand up between Rick’s legs and stroked him from root to tip. Rick almost cried out at the relief.

Daryl pulled his tongue back and quickly sucked on a finger before dipping it into Rick’s entrance. Rick was so worked up he almost pushed his hips back into Daryl’s hand, but he knew better. He held still while Daryl slowly worked from the front and the back and he felt his orgasm building. After the hunter slipped in a second finger, it was all Rick needed and his cock started to spurt onto the shower wall. Rick leaned his forehead against the tile and tried to be as quiet as possible as the intense orgasm wracked his body.

After he finished, Daryl worked kisses up his back and held him from behind for a minute as his heart returned to its normal pace. Rick turned around and this time he pushed the hunter back against the shower wall. He got down on his knees and looked up at Daryl’s face, waiting for instruction. His lover saw the submissive look in his eye and it seemed to turn him on even more. He threaded a rough hand in Rick’s hair and grabbed his cock with the other. “Suck it,” he commanded in a gruff tone.

Rick did as he was told and lapped at the hunter’s long length. He took him as far as he could in his mouth, only stopping when he felt himself gag a little. He continued to bob up and down on Daryl’s stiff cock, bringing his hands up to stroke him at the base and cup his package. Daryl’s breathing started to quicken and Rick looked up to make eye contact with the hunter. Their eyes locked as he swallowed inch after inch and Daryl’s body started to tense up. The hunter started to thrust into Rick’s mouth at a quickening pace and he grunted, “Fuck…I’m gonna come.” A couple thrusts later and Rick felt Daryl spill into his mouth. Instead of swallowing, Rick decided to leave his mouth open and let Daryl see his hard work.

As it dripped down Rick’s chin, Daryl watched with dark eyes. He yanked Rick to his feet and muttered, “You’re fuckin’ filthy.” Then the hunter brought their mouths together and Rick could feel Daryl lap at the essence still on his tongue. Rick loved being so dirty with this man. Him and Lori had never had this kind of sexual chemistry and he found he couldn’t get enough of it with Daryl.

After they rinsed off one more time, they both got out of the shower and dried off. Rick checked the clock and it was a little after six-thirty. He felt completely wiped after their wet romp, so he pulled on a fresh pair of underwear and laid back on the bed. Daryl dressed in his clothes from the night before and sat down on the bed to pull his boots on. He looked over at Rick and brushed a hand against his cheek. “You know, I never asked, but you okay with the rough stuff?” the hunter questioned, a slightly concerned look on his face.

Rick’s face broke into a huge grin. “Hell yea, I’m okay with it. Didn’t I look okay with it just now?”

Daryl smirked but rubbed at his tired eyes. “We never talked ‘bout it. Jus’ wanted to be sure. Time to head to work,” and he leaned over and gave Rick a quick kiss.

“You at the garage today?”

“Yea, but I’ll probably make up some excuse to leave early, so I don’t have to see Merle when he comes in.” Daryl sighed at that thought.

“Hey. I mean it when I say don’t worry about it him. Okay? See you when Carl gets home from school?”

“Yea. I’ll be here by then.”

“Where you takin’ us anyways?” Rick asked with a small amount of excitement.

“Surprise. Don’t wear nothin’ nice though.”

“Oh. Getting dirty with Daryl Dixon…again,” Rick teased. They both chuckled and Daryl stood up to go. He kissed Rick one more time and then he walked from the bedroom. Carl must not have gotten up yet because the only thing he heard was the hunter opening and closing the front door as he left. Rick crawled back to his pillow and promptly fell back asleep. 


	23. Chapter 23

By the time Rick woke up, it was after ten. He dragged himself from the bed and went to the kitchen for coffee. Carl was long gone so the house seemed incredibly quiet. He snapped on the TV and listened for a minute while he sipped from his mug. After a while, he got kind of bored and pulled out his laptop to check emails. He checked his work email as well, and saw a response from the Captain. It read:

Grimes,

Sounds like good info. I’ll hand this off to Mike and J.T. and see what they can find today since you’re on night shift.

It was short and to the point, which was definitely his Captain’s style. Rick appreciated that though. You could never do your job right when you were always guessing at what your superior wanted. After he finished his coffee, he decided to pick up the house a bit. He cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed all the carpets, and even changed his sheets. He figured him and Daryl had done enough to the current set; they definitely needed a wash.

Afterwards, his stomach started to grumble so he went to the kitchen for some food. What he found was that their cupboards and pantry were practically bare. “Well shit,” Rick said. That meant grocery shopping, one of the things Rick absolutely hated to do. He found grocery stores too stressful. So many items to choose and he could never make up his mind. Whenever he asked Carl what he wanted, his son would just shrug his teenage shoulders and go “I don’t care.” It was beyond infuriating.

Rick threw on some decent clothes, grabbed his keys, and headed to the local supermarket. He slowly made his way up and down the aisles, picking up boxes and staring at them for a minute before he sat them back down again. After ten minutes, all he really had in his cart were hotdogs and chips. Not the most nutritious of food items. As he walked down the pasta aisle, he spotted a familiar face.

Maria Lopez was pushing a cart around with one toddler in the seat and one in the basket. Rick almost thought of turning back because he hated awkward run-ins, but he thought about it again and continued on his path. She finally noticed him when their carts were about four feet apart. Her face spread into a big grin and she said, “Rick! Hi! How are you doing?”

“Hey, Maria. Doing good. You?” he asked politely.

“Oh, I’d be better if I could get these two to cooperate with me. Grocery shopping is always tough.”

“Yea. I remember when my son was that young.”

“Oh, you have a son? How old?”

“Thirteen. Going on 25, of course,” and they laughed together.

“Oh, trust me. I dread the day when either one of mine get to that point. I’ll just enjoy them the way they are right now. So are you off today or just going in late? You don’t seem to be doing any serious grocery shopping,” she teased as she glanced in Rick’s cart.

Rick laughed and ran a nervous hand through his hair. “Well, I don’t go in until tonight. And of course I should be getting more than this, but let’s just say cooking isn’t my forte and my son is completely apathetic to my cause.”

“Oh, I understand where you’re coming from. The most I can do is boil easy mac. My wife is the chef of the house and she sends me out with the grocery list. She usually does the shopping, but work was slow today so I decided to give her a rest and bring the girls with me. A move I completely regret now!” An easy smile spread across Rick’s face at Maria’s words. Besides Daryl, she had been the only other person in town that he could chat this easily with.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to it then. It was good to see you.”

“You too, Rick. Oh, you know what? Why don’t you come to my house Sunday night for dinner? Bring your son. Juliette, my wife, she loves to go all out for Sunday dinners and we would love it if you came. Here’s my address.” Before Rick could even respond, she whipped out a small spiral notebook and wrote quickly.

She tore the page off and placed it in Rick’s hand. “Come by around five and we’ll make sure you guys leave with full bellies. And…bring a friend if you want.” Maria gave him one of her knowing smiles and waved goodbye as she continued on with her shopping.

Rick stood there for a moment, completely dumbfounded. He thought she must be a magician because he just agreed to a dinner without even saying a word. He tucked the piece paper into his pocket and continued down the aisle. He grabbed a few more things to help stock their cupboards and then made his way back home.

Rick spent the rest of the afternoon trying to nap, since he knew he was going to be up all night working. Carl got home right around four and hopped on his video games. Rick told him to go change, reiterating what Daryl had told him that morning about not wearing anything nice. Right around 4:30, the hunter pulled up on his motorcycle and parked it in his usual spot.

While Carl changed, Rick opened the front door and greeted his lover. They embraced and swapped a quick kiss before heading towards the living room and sitting down for a minute. “So how was your day?” Rick asked.

“Fine, I guess,” Daryl shrugged, a slight frown on his face. “Ran into Merle for minute.”

“How’d that go?” Rick asked while he used his fingers to trace patterns on the back of Daryl’s hand.

“Bout what I expected. Yanked me to the side. Told me to quit all this foolin’ around. Said he wasn’t gonna have a fag for a brother.”

This time Rick picked up Daryl’s hand and squeezed it tight. “What’d you say?”

“Nothin’. Jus’ shook my head and backed away. Surprised he didn’t yell, but people were there. Guess he doesn’t want people to know his brother’s a queer just yet.” Daryl shrugged and looked away. Rick snaked an arm around Daryl’s waist and brought their bodies together. He placed a few soft kisses to the hunter’s jawline until he finally turned his head towards Rick and their lips connected.

“Forget about him. Right now, it’s just us.” Rick whispered. Daryl smirked at that and ran a thumb across Rick’s cheek as he wrapped an arm around his shoulders. The moment abruptly ended when Carl came trudging out from the hallway. Rick was tempted to pull away from the hunter, but he realized they weren’t in any really compromising position, so he stayed where he was.

Carl sat down in the armchair, and if he was thinking anything about what he saw, he didn’t bother to say it. “So where we going?” his son asked Daryl. He seemed a little bit excited, which made Rick happy.

“Can’t say. You’ll see when we get there. Keys?” Daryl said, turning to Rick with his hand out.

“Oh. You’re driving, are you?” Rick laughed. He pulled the keys to the jeep from his pocket and placed them in Daryl’s empty hand.

“It’s easier this way. Trust me.” Afterwards, they all headed out to the jeep and climbed in. Carl still grumbled as he crouched down in the back. Rick thought they would probably need a more family friendly car if things ever got really serious between him and the hunter. Daryl pulled out and they headed west.

Rick was glad that he didn’t have to drive because they ended up taking a lot of turns, going all the way into the next county. After about thirty minutes, Daryl turned onto a long gravel road that was lined with beautiful, tall oak trees. Rick looked out the window and saw what looked to be a huge property with small, rolling green hills. They continued down the driveway and drove past a large, white plantation style home. An older gentleman was outside pruning some bushes and he waved to Daryl as they drove by.

They continued past the house and headed towards the back. They passed a sign that read “Soaring Oak Stables” and Daryl parked the jeep in front of a big red barn. All three climbed out and Daryl led them around the barn to a huge stable further back on the property. Daryl slid the door open and they stepped inside.

“So this is your side job?” Rick asked as he whipped his head around to take in every detail.

“Yea. I do some work on their machinery. The owner lets me come out and ride when I want.” As Daryl spoke, he pulled open a stall door and indicated for Rick and Carl to enter. Inside was a magnificent, light brown horse who snorted at the men as they stepped closer.

“Whoa…” Carl whispered. His expression was one of complete awe. He’d never been near a real horse like this. Rick had taken him on plenty of pony rides when he was little, but this was a whole new level and Rick felt just as amazed.

“Here,” Daryl said. He walked to Carl and handed him a rounded brush with dark bristles. He put it in Carl’s hand and then brought the hand to the horse, showing him how to gently rub her with it. Carl’s face split into a bright grin and Rick couldn’t help but do the same. “This here’s Dancer. She’s a good beginner horse. Figured after you got acquainted, you might wanna try to ride her.”

“Awesome!” Carl said. He glanced over at Rick then. “Is it okay, Dad?”

Rick was still smiling at how amazing this whole thing was and he was pretty sure he’d never be more okay with anything in his whole life. “Oh, heck yea!” he replied. Daryl continued to talk to Carl about the horse, teaching him something new with every word.

After a few minutes, he showed Carl how to saddle her up and they led her outside. He indicated where he should put his foot and then he helped Carl climb up. Rick leaned against the fence and felt deliriously happy watching his son trot around the small area. Daryl led them around at first, but once Carl got the hang of it, he stepped back and let him do it on his own.

The hunter walked over to Rick and threw an arm over the fence. “What’re thinking?” he asked, squeezing Rick’s hand for some contact.

“Just…how perfect this is. And how much…you mean to me.” Rick chickened out at the last second. He wanted to tell Daryl that he loved him, but he just couldn’t get the words out. He was so scared that he was going to scare the hunter off by being too intense, too quick.

“Well, good,” Daryl whispered. He brought his head in and their lips connected. It was a brief but sweet kiss. Rick’s cheeks ached from smiling so much.

“Hey, I saw that…” Carl joked from atop Dancer. “Dancer saw it too, ya know.” Everyone started chuckling then. After half an hour of riding, they brought Dancer back into her stall and brushed her down again. Once they put the saddle back up, they walked back to the jeep. Carl walked ahead while Rick and Daryl trailed behind, hand in hand.

After they got back to town, they all had grumbling stomachs and decided to stop at the diner for dinner. They were seated in a booth and Rick and Daryl sat on one side, while Carl sat on the other. Of course, their waitress was the red-head that had been so flirtatious with Rick before. Tonight she seemed much less forward though and Rick wondered if it was because of her date with Shane.

They all ate until their bellies were full and poking out. Rick had to put a stop to the straw-wrapper-paper-ball war Daryl and Carl had started while they waited for their check. Once she finally brought it over, Rick and Daryl fought over who would pay. Eventually it was decided that since Daryl had taken them to the stables, Rick would pay for dinner. He placed his card down and the waitress came over and grabbed it, promptly returning it a minute later.

“Here you go. Hope y’all enjoyed it!” she said cheerfully. She turned to walk away, but stopped herself suddenly and turned back to Rick. “And tell that tiger that he needs to give me a call.” She winked at Rick and clawed a hand in his direction, like they were in on some little secret. He smiled politely at her to hide the confusing look that wanted to spread across his face.

Once she walked away, Daryl and Carl gave Rick a “What the hell was that about” look and he just shrugged. “Shane took her out a few nights ago, and I guess he hasn’t called,” Rick said to the two. Carl looked like he could care less and Daryl just chuckled.

All three went back to the house and plopped down in the living room to watch TV. After a while, Carl wandered off to his bedroom to leave Rick and Daryl on their own. Rick was halfway tempted to fool around, but he decided that he just wanted to enjoy the hunter’s company tonight and they wrapped their arms around one another as they relaxed onto the sofa. Rick laid a head on Daryl’s shoulder and the hunter gently ran a hand through Rick’s hair.

Right around 9:30, Rick’s reminder alarm on his phone went off, telling him to go get ready for work. With a sigh and kiss from Daryl, he slowly dragged himself up off the couch and made his way to his bedroom to change. Once he was decked out in his uniform, he walked back into the hallway only to run into Carl leaving his own room.

“Hey, I’m about to head out. You gonna be okay here with Daryl? I probably won’t be back until about six,” Rick asked his son.

“Yea, I’ll be fine. We’ll find something to do…” Carl trailed off and he brought his right hand slightly behind his back. Rick could tell Carl was up to something as they walked down the hallway. When they stepped into the living room, he made a quick move and grabbed what Carl was holding behind his back, a deck of cards.

“What’s this? You gonna try to take all of Daryl’s money?” Rick teased. He tossed the cards onto the coffee table and ruffled his son’s hair. Carl rolled his eyes at his father and sat down across from the hunter, taking the cards out and giving them a shuffle that would rival any dealer in Vegas. Sometimes Rick regretted teaching his son how to play poker.

“I’d like to see him try,” Daryl said, sitting up and readying himself for the game.

“You better watch out. Carl’s got a mean poker face.” He leaned down and gave Daryl a quick kiss and ignored the small “Ew” he heard from behind him. When he stood back up, he looked down at his son and pointed a finger at him. “Alright, now. No playing for money. I mean it. And go easy on him,” Rick added with a wink. Carl winked back and started to deal the cards. As he walked to the door, he took one last look at the scene behind him and tried to ignore the overwhelming urge to stay with the two most important people in his life. In the end, he sighed and walked out the door.


	24. Chapter 24

Rick pulled into his driveway the next morning and exhaustion overwhelmed him. It was after six a.m. and he had just gotten done with the busiest shift he’d had so far in this small town. Apparently Friday nights were quite hectic around here and he hadn’t had a minute of down time. He didn’t even get a chance to call the house just to make sure everything was okay, but he hadn’t gotten a call from them either, so he assumed all had gone well.

The night had been filled with multiple types of calls. DUIs, domestic disturbances, even a breaking and entering call had come through dispatch. Rick had a stack of paperwork on his desk that seemed to be a mile high after everything they’d dealt with. Shane wasn’t in any mood to play around either, so they did everything quick and by the book. Rick’s partner had a broken nose from the bar incident the previous night and he grumbled at just about everything.

No wonder Mike and J.T. had been so eager to swap shifts. Rick vowed to never take another Friday night again if it hadn’t been assigned to him. As he walked into his front door, he glanced in the living room and once again saw the hunter fast asleep on the couch. Rick woke him the same way as he done before and both men silently made their way to the bedroom.

After they had undressed and slipped under the covers, Rick curled in close to the hunter and breathed in his deep, musky scent. He loved the way Daryl smelled. “Why didn’t you sleep in the bed?” Rick asked in a whisper.

Daryl absentmindedly stroked Rick’s hair as he laid back with is eyes closed. “Don’t feel right. Not without you here.”

Rick smiled at the hunter’s sweet response. “How’d it go with Carl?”

“Good. ‘Course, he took all my damn money,” Daryl chuckled.

“Told you not to let him play for money. He’s better than you’d think.”

“No shit. Now I know.” 

“So, what are you doing today?” Rick asked his lover.

Daryl shrugged next to Rick. “Don’t know. Merle asked a few days ago to go huntin’. Don’t see that happenin’ now.”

Rick frowned slightly at that response and the last thing Merle had said to him echoed throughout his head. “Are you okay with that? With everything that’s happened with Merle?”

Daryl shrugged once again. “Ain’t nothin’ I can do. He’s my brother. Always will be. Can’t choose who you’re related to. But I ain’t ‘bout to let him tell me how to live my life. Done let him do that too much already. I feel like before…I never really had anything worth fightin’ him over. I s’pose that’s changed.”

Rick smiled as he realized what the hunter was saying and any worries that he had about what  Merle had said quickly faded away. He brought Daryl in for a kiss and a tight hug. When they pulled apart, he looked Daryl in the eyes and thought that this was the moment to say those three little words. But he just couldn’t get his mouth to work the way he wanted to, so instead they dozed off wrapped up in each other’s arms.

Rick woke up to an empty bed and turned over to glance at the clock. It was just after one in the afternoon and he still felt pretty tired. He was about to turn over and get some more shut-eye before a wonderful smell reached his nose. It was a mixture of the smell of bacon with another scent that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. His stomach growled and he knew he had to go find out where the source was coming from.

He dragged some sweat pants and a t-shirt on and made his way down the hallway. He heard some talking as he rounded the corner to the kitchen and smiled at what he saw. “See, you gotta wait until just the right moment to flip it. All about timing,” Daryl said and then he flipped a pancake in the air and it landed perfectly in the middle of the skillet he was holding in his hand. Carl was sitting at the kitchen table and he gave Daryl a light clap when the he finished the flip.

“Or you could just use a spatula,” Rick teased. He walked over to the coffee pot and made himself a cup as his lover continued with his pancakes. “Making a late breakfast? I didn’t even think we had stuff for pancakes.”

“We didn’t. Daryl went to the store and came back with some stuff. Said you were gonna kill me with all this processed crap,” his son said from his seat.

“Oh really?” Rick asked the hunter as he came up behind him and gave him a small hug and kiss on the cheek before sitting down at the table.

Daryl sarcastically motioned like he was going to flip the next pancake at Carl and they all smiled. “See if I let you win at poker next time, kid.”

Carl gave a quick scoff at that. “Yea right. Might be easier for you to just give me all the money in your wallet before I bother to shuffle the deck.”

“Hey, I said no playing for money. Why didn’t you listen to me?” Rick questioned his son.

Carl shrugged and tried to claim innocence. “It wasn’t my idea…” Carl trailed off and he got up to grab plates and silverware for the table.

“Uh huh…” Rick said. Daryl brought the food over and everyone got their plates ready and dug into the yummy meal the hunter had prepared.

“Hey, Dad. Can I go over to Jake’s tonight? He’s got this new game and I want to see what it’s like,” Carl asked between bites.

“Sure. Are you staying the night?”

“Maybe. We’ll probably play late.”

“Well, you need to do your homework before you go tonight. And I need you back by early afternoon tomorrow. A lady from work asked us to come over for dinner tomorrow night and she wouldn’t really take no for an answer. And I want to meet Jake and his parents when I take you over.”

“Fine. But it’s just his mom, I think. He hasn’t ever mentioned his dad, so I guess he’s out of the picture,” Carl shrugged.

“Who’s this lady from work?” Daryl asked, trying to seem nonchalant as he ate his food.

“Maria Lopez. She’s the Medical Examiner. Apparently, she has a wife and two young kids and they like to make big Sunday meals. She’s pretty nice.” Rick smiled as he watched Daryl’s face change to a slightly relieved look. “You’re invited too, ya know,” he added with a wink.

Daryl’s whole demeanor seemed to change at that last sentence and he met Rick’s eyes in surprise. He glanced at Carl, who was involved with the tablet in his hands, and then looked back to Rick. “So, she knows?” and he motioned between his body and Rick’s.

Rick grinned at the hunter’s reaction before he spoke. “Well…she kinda guessed. I figured it’d be nice for us to have a friend that we wouldn’t have to hide anything around.” He wrapped a hand around Daryl’s and gave it a quick squeeze. Then he decided what the hell and leaned forward and gave the hunter a big smooch right at the kitchen table. The idea of being able to go somewhere with the hunter and not have to be careful about how they acted or what they said made him excited. When he pulled away, Daryl seemed happy too.

“Ew. I saw that,” Carl said in a monotone voice, not even bothering to look up from his tablet. Rick tossed a piece of bacon at his son, who picked it up from his shirt where it landed and ate it with a smile. After they finished eating, Carl got up and begrudgingly did the dishes. Rick and Daryl took their coffee and headed for the living room. They settled on the couch and fought over the remote for a minute before Daryl won and he turned it to a show about fishing.

Rick rolled his eyes and groaned. He was going to have to get use to watching boring things like this and the idea was somewhat terrifying. Then he thought about how they were going to get the house alone tonight and Rick started to imagine some of the things they might do. “Hey. What do you wanna do tonight? Since Carl’s gonna be gone,” he asked his lover sitting next to him.

Daryl looked Rick’s way and smiled because they were both thinking the same naughty thoughts. He leaned over and brought their lips together quickly. “What ya got in mind? Don’t have to spend the whole night here. Unless you want to,” and he winked at Rick.

“No. We can go somewhere and then come back here. What do you think? Wanna go get some drinks or something?” Rick felt a little excitement buzz through him. They were going to actually go out together, without Carl, and not stay cooped up in the house. Rick loved spending time with the hunter at home, but he was really looking forward to being more out in the open with him.

“Yea. We’ll figure somethin’ out.” Daryl leaned back in and kissed Rick again and they took their time languidly exploring each other’s mouths. After a minute, Rick heard Carl walk in.

“I’m here. Y’all can chill on the PDA now,” his son teased as he sat in the armchair. Rick tossed a throw pillow at his head but he aimed too high and it sailed passed Carl.

“Don’t you have homework to do?” he asked his son, trying to hold back on the frustration he felt at being interrupted.

“Nah, it’s okay,” said Daryl, as he stood from the couch. “I gotta run to the house anyway. Need some fresh clothes. I’ll be back in a few hours.” He leaned down and kissed Rick’s slightly frowning face. He ruffled Carl’s hair as he headed to the front door and a few minutes later, Rick heard the hunter’s bike drive off.

Of course, after Daryl left, Carl decided to go to his room and do his homework. Which left Rick in the living room to watch TV for the next few hours. After awhile, he got bored and shut the TV off. He went to his room and jumped in the shower. Once he was all clean, he quickly shaved and got dressed. He wore the same shirt that Daryl had yanked open that one night, but he had managed to sew a couple of the buttons back on.

After that, Carl was ready to head over to his friend’s house. Rick drove him the short five minutes, something that Carl probably could have walked, but Rick really wanted to meet this friend. Jake turned out to be your average pre-pubescent teenager, much like Carl, and they had a brief chat before Carl disappeared into the house. Rick met Jake’s mom too, who seemed nice enough and he didn’t have any worries about leaving his son there.

Once he got back home, he was surprised to find that Daryl still wasn’t back. It had been almost four hours. Rick really wished Daryl had a cell phone so he could call him and double check that he was okay. He sat around for almost another hour waiting until he finally heard the motorcycle pull up. He jumped off the couch and opened the front door for Daryl, who walked in and sat a small duffle on the floor. When he stood back up, Rick saw a small bruise was starting to form on Daryl’s cheek.

“What the hell happened?” he asked in a hurried voice as he gently grabbed at the hunter’s face to get a better look.

“Nothin’ I can’t handle,” Daryl replied. He pulled his face out of Rick’s hand and went to go sit on the couch. Rick quickly followed him and sat down next to him.

“That’s not what I asked. What happened, Daryl?” Rick’s voice was much more forceful this time, and the hunter knew he was serious.

Daryl sighed as he rubbed a hand against the bruise. Rick saw that Daryl’s knuckles had some bruising too. “Went home. Packed the bag. Couldn’t get the damn bike to start. So I spent a good two hours fixin’ it. Once it finally started, Merle pulled into the driveway. He was already half in the bag, lookin’ for a reason to start somethin’.”

Anger started to build in Rick at the mention of Merle. “So he did this? Because of us? That sorry son of a bitch. I oughta go kick his ass.” Daryl grabbed Rick’s hand and tried to calm him down.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it. I can handle myself. He got one hit in. Then I got ‘im good and he was out cold. S’fine, I promise.” Daryl squeezed Rick’s hand to let him know that he was really okay. Rick brought the hunter’s bruised knuckles to his mouth and gently kissed each one.

“You really need to get a cellphone. Please,” Rick practically begged. “I was worried,” he added, hoping to guilt the hunter just a little.

It seemed to work because Daryl’s face took on a hangdog expression. “I’m sorry. Don’t know ‘bout no cellphone, but I’ll try not let it happen again.”

“So, where we going tonight?” Rick asked excitedly, trying to lighten the dark mood that had settled on their evening.

“Mmmmm, how ‘bout County Line?” Daryl suggested.

Rick’s eyebrows shot up. “You sure about that?” Rick knew that was a bar that not only Merle and his friends frequented often, but so did some of Rick’s fellow officers. If they went there together, and there was even one of those people there, their little secret might be out.

Their eyes locked for a moment, like they were having a silent discussion about something, and finally Daryl smirked at Rick. “Yea…I’m sure.”

Both men left the house hand in hand and jumped in Rick’s jeep. Rick drove to the bar and they pulled into the gravel parking lot a few minutes later. There seemed to be plenty of cars around and he felt a slight jolt of nervousness shiver up his spine. He was going out on date with his boyfriend, basically for the first time, and he didn’t really know what to think.

They walked into the bar, although not hand in hand this time, and went right up to the counter. It was pretty busy inside with quite a few people at tables chattering away. Rick looked around and didn’t notice anyone that might know either of them, which gave him an odd mixture of relief and disappointment. Once the bartender got around to them, Daryl ordered for them. “Hey, Mack. Gimme two beers and a whiskey.”

Mack nodded at him and returned a moment later with the drinks. He sat them down in front of Daryl and asked, “No Merle tonight?”

“Shit, I hope not. Don’t need another one of these,” and Daryl pointed at the bruise on his cheek.

“Well, I doubt he’d do anything with the company you’re keeping tonight.” Mack nodded towards Rick, and Rick felt himself blush a little. He knew that the bartender was inferring to the fact that Rick was a cop, but the comment still made him feel a little exposed in this big room of people. Daryl laughed all the same and paid the bartender. He picked up the whiskey and sat it in front of Rick, who looked at Daryl in confusion.

“What? Isn’t this yours?” Rick asked, leaning into Daryl’s ear to speak since the bar was so loud.

“Nah, got it for you. I’ll drive back tonight,” and the hunter gave Rick a mischievous smile. Rick laughed and shrugged his shoulders. He threw the whiskey back and chased it with his beer. Daryl nodded towards a pool table in the back that had just emptied and the two made their way over. They played a few games between beers and every time Daryl went to buy another round, he came back with a shot of whiskey for Rick.

After his third shot, Rick was definitely feeling pretty tipsy. They laughed at all the shots he kept missing and occasionally their eyes would meet and a quick look of lust would pass between them. Daryl was leaning over the table about to sink the 8-ball as Rick ran his eyes up and down the hunter’s lithe body and he licked his lips. The alcohol had definitely gone to his head and he was all kinds of worked up.

Daryl sunk the ball into the pocket, effectively ending the game and he stood up to lean on his pool cue while he took a puff of his cigarette. Rick wasn’t crazy about Daryl smoking, but he really only had a few a day and he never smoked in the house. Right now, Rick couldn’t help but think how sexy the hunter looked each time he took a puff.

“What’s that? Like the third game I won? Your game’s off tonight, officer,” Daryl teased. Rick giggled drunkenly and walked up to Daryl and took his pool cue, sitting it on the table along with his own. He leaned against the edge of the table and grabbed Daryl’s hand.

“Well, how am I s’pose to play good when I can’t take my eyes off you?” Rick asked with a slightly slurred, sultry voice. Daryl smirked while he finished the last puff on his smoke.

“Think I like you like this. Maybe it’s time to take you back to the house.” Daryl’s eyes turned dark and a small shiver went up Rick’s spine.

“Oh yea? What you gonna do with me?” Rick asked as he ran a hand up and down the hunter’s arm. He was definitely feeling eager for some contact with his lover.

“You’re just gonna have to wait and see,” Daryl replied and he grabbed Rick’s hand and dragged him to the bar’s front door. They caught a few curious looks, but Daryl only nodded at the bartender as they walked through the room. Rick was too tipsy to care about what anyone else thought and his mind was only on one thing, the man leading him to the car. Daryl held the bar door open for Rick, but before he could walk out, Mike and J.T. walked in.

“Oh hey, Rick. You leaving? We just came off day-shift and decided on a beer. You wanna join us?” Mike asked. He hadn’t even noticed the younger Dixon holding the door open. Rick thought for a second about what to say. Daryl was looking at him with a curious face, like he wasn’t sure what Rick’s move would be.

Rick slowly ran a hand over his face, trying to clear his drunken mind enough to come up with a logical answer. “Uhhh…” was the only sound that came from his mouth.

Before he could think of anything else, he felt a hand grab his own and he looked up to see Daryl pulling him towards the door. “Sorry boys. Rick’s busy tonight,” Daryl said to the officers and he pushed Rick out of the bar.

“Sorry guys!” Rick yelled at the closing door and he stumbled along to the jeep where Daryl had already opened the passenger door for him. After the hunter climbed in the driver’s side, they sat there for a second, looked at each other, and then busted out laughing. Rick was almost in tears from chuckling so hard. He had no idea what the men would say on Monday, but right now he didn’t care. Daryl started the jeep and pulled out of the parking lot.

As they were making their way home, Rick decided he couldn’t wait that long to touch his man, so he leaned over and brought his mouth to Daryl’s ear. He darted a quick tongue in and then bit the tender flesh. Daryl shivered a little and he groaned, “Mmmm, best be careful Officer. Don’t wanna have to pull this car over and take you right here.”

Rick chuckled at the hunter’s words but he continued his tongue’s exploration as he worked a hand into Daryl’s lap and started to stroke him through his pants. Daryl huffed out a quick breath and stepped on the gas a little bit harder. The alcohol had made Rick feel a little brave so he whispered, “Baby, I want you to take me home and fuck me.”

Daryl’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and Rick decided to continue talking while he rubbed a hand on the hunter’s ever-hardening erection. “I want you to be rough baby. I want you to put me on my hands and knees and fuck me until I’m screaming your name.” Daryl’s eyes turned dark and he put his own hand over the one Rick was using to stroke him and he grinded his hips deeper into Rick’s palm.

“Mmm, don’t stop there. You know I like that,” Daryl mumbled. He leaned over and gave Rick a quick kiss before he returned his eyes to the road.

“I want you to grab my hips and slam this long cock into me until you empty every drop of come you have inside of me.” Just as Rick finished his sentence, Daryl pulled the jeep into the driveway and he slammed it into park. He unhooked his seatbelt and practically climbed on top of Rick as he crashed his lips down on top of the other man’s. He gripped the sides of Rick’s hair as he shoved his tongue into his mouth. Daryl tasted like beer and tobacco as their mouths fought each other for control.

Rick slipped his hands under the back of Daryl’s shirt and he lightly ran his nails down the hunter’s bare back. They pulled their mouths apart to get air and Rick popped the jeep door open. Daryl climbed out and practically yanked Rick out of his seat. They made their way to the front door and Rick fumbled with the keys as Daryl stood behind him and grinded his erection into Rick’s ass.

Finally, he got the door open and the two men spilled into the entryway. Daryl kicked the door closed and pushed Rick against the wall. Rick was feeling extra feisty, so as Daryl was pushing into him, he pushed right back until they were practically grappling for control. The hunter seemed to be loving every second of it because he couldn’t stop smirking between kisses. Rick pulled Daryl’s shirt over his head and immediately started placing rough kisses and bites along the hunter’s chest.

Daryl grabbed Rick’s hair and pulled him back up. Then he went to Rick’s shirt and once again didn’t even bother to unbutton it. He took a hand to each side and popped it open, sending more buttons flying to the floor. Rick rolled his eyes and was about to curse when Daryl brought his head down and closed his mouth around a nipple, flicking his tongue and nibbling slightly. Rick’s head rolled back and he moaned loudly. With Carl not home, he was going to take every advantage that he could to be loud.

Daryl yanked his shirt off the rest of the way and tossed it to the floor. Then he dropped to his knees and unbuttoned Rick’s pants. He pulled them down past his hips, along with the underwear, and Rick’s fully erect cock sprang free. Daryl did the thing that Rick hated. He kissed him all over except for his stiff length. The hunter teased him with licks and bites as he rubbed his hands against Rick’s hips. Rick groaned in frustration and finally reached a hand into Daryl’s hair and pulled him back. He gripped himself at the base and held the thick cock in front of the hunter’s face. “Open your mouth,” Rick said in a firm voice.

Daryl was practically panting with want and he opened his mouth for Rick who plunged past the hunter’s warm lips. Daryl ran his slick tongue up and down the shaft as Rick thrusted in and out. Watching Daryl’s lips wrapped around his cock while he plunged deeper and deeper had Rick almost to edge and he pulled out before he was sent over. Daryl pulled Rick’s pants down the rest of the way and helped him step out of them.

Then he dragged Rick down to the floor and brought their mouths together in a deep, lust filled kiss. He pulled away and grabbed Rick by the arms and pushed him down on the hardwood floor so Rick had his weight on his elbows and knees. “Don’t move,” said Daryl, and he stood up and walked towards the back bedroom. He was only gone for a few seconds and when he came back, he was completely naked and he had two pillows in his arms and the bottle he had brought over the other night.

First he lifted Rick’s arms and placed the pillow under his elbows, then he did the same for Rick’s knees. After that he came behind Rick and gave him a quick smack to the ass. Rick tensed slightly at the unexpected contact, but relaxed again as Daryl rubbed a soothing hand over the area. Then Rick heard the bottle pop open and Daryl’s hand disappeared, only to reappear a second later at Rick’s entrance.

Rick felt the hunter rub slick, cool fingers in a circle to help relax him and he slowly dipped a finger in. Rick groaned at the pleasure, the foreign feeling he had felt the other times was now completely gone as he anticipated the amazing feeling that Daryl provided. Daryl started slow, which only frustrated Rick, so he pushed his hips back onto the hunter’s finger to urge the other man on. “C’mon baby. Don’t be gentle,” Rick pleaded.

He thought he could almost hear the hunter smile as he felt a second finger slip into him. His groan deepened as he felt himself stretch to accommodate Daryl’s fingers. After only a moment or so, he felt a third finger enter and he gripped tightly to the pillow underneath him. Then Daryl removed his hand and a few seconds later Rick felt the head of the hunter’s stiff cock at his entrance.

Daryl rubbed a soothing hand against the small of Rick’s back. “You ready?” he asked.

Rick just nodded as he braced himself in anticipation. Finally, Daryl pushed forward and Rick couldn’t hold back the moans that fell from his mouth. Their first time, Daryl had gone easy and slowly worked his way in. But this time, the hunter pushed halfway in and then pulled out only to go all the way in after the second thrust. “Oh, fuck baby!” Rick practically yelled.

Daryl almost stopped to make sure Rick was alright, but Rick urged him on by moving his own hips against the hunter’s. Daryl worked up to a steady pace and he held one hand on Rick’s hip while the other held onto his shoulder. Rick was already panting heavily and he worked his body back into Daryl, in time with each thrust. “Oh yea…Fuck me just like that, baby…Fuck, you feel so good inside me…” Rick moaned to his lover.

From behind him, Daryl’s breath was getting heavy and his grip on Rick’s body was tightening with each jerk of his hips. He pulled back and slammed into Rick over and over again. As he pounded into his lover, he leaned across Rick’s back and moaned through gritted teeth, “Oh, god. I’m gonna come soon. Come with me.”

With that, Rick reached a hand under his body and started to feverishly stroke at his cock that had already dripped a small puddle of pre-cum onto the floor. As he stroked faster and faster, Daryl pushed into him harder and harder. He gave Rick a couple smacks on his ass and that was the jolt Rick needed to be sent over the edge. “Oh fuck baby! I’m coming!” Rick shouted as he spilled onto the hardwood floor beneath them.

Daryl thrusted twice more and then he too was sent over the edge. He emptied into Rick as he held tightly onto his lover, pressing his forehead into Rick’s back as he tried to catch his breath. Rick’s strength gave out and he slid to the floor, forcing Daryl to pull out and turn on his side. They shared the pillow Rick’s elbows had rested on and both lay there with tangled limbs.

“We’re getting pretty bad. Couldn’t even make it to the bedroom this time,” Rick huffed out and they both fell into a fit of giggles. Afterwards, they both shifted to lay on their backs, looking up at the ceiling, with their legs still intertwined.

“What you gonna do ‘bout your cop buddies?” Daryl asked quietly. Rick assumed he was referring to the guys they had seen at the bar as they left.

“Nothing. Let them think what they want. Unless they ask me outright, I shouldn’t have to tell them anything. For all I know, they could be fucking each other.”

Daryl chuckled at Rick’s response and brought one of Rick’s hands to his mouth and he bit at it playfully. “You really want me to go to this dinner tomorrow?”

“Hell yes, I do. She told me to bring a friend. You’re my friend. Well, more than my friend. And she has a wife. So when we go tomorrow, I’ll introduce you as my boyfriend. If that’s okay?” Rick asked, glancing at Daryl.

“Aw hell. Don’t see why not. I mean I’m over here more than I’m at my own house,” Daryl teased.

Rick turned serious for a moment. “I’d rather have you here where I know you’re safe than being at your place where Merle could turn up and get violent. I mean, you don’t even have a phone, Daryl.”

The hunter sighed. “You’d really feel better if I had a phone?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“Fine. I’ll get a stupid phone. But it’s only in case of emergencies, and don’t be calling me all the time thinking I’ll pick up.” Daryl crossed his arms trying to assert his manly determination, but all Rick heard was that he was getting a phone so he jumped on top of his lover and planted kisses on every inch of skin he could find. The hunter tickled his lover to get him to stop with the massive amounts of affection and finally Rick sat up and stared down at his man.

A surge of emotion worked its way up in Rick and he finally felt like he couldn’t hold back anymore. “I…uh…I,” he stumbled over his words.

“You…what?” Daryl asked as he ran hands up and down Rick’s chest.

“I…I love you.” Rick’s heart felt like it was going to pound right out of his chest and his entire body flushed a dark red. His mouth went dry as he waited to see if Daryl had heard him.

Daryl’s face softened and he grabbed Rick’s wrists and pulled him down towards him. Their lips connected and Daryl worked a soft, sensual kiss into Rick’s mouth. He turned their bodies and he ended up on top of Rick. They parted their lips and lapped at each other as Daryl slowly rubbed his hands over Rick’s body. Rick soon felt that they both had full erections again and this time, since Rick was already prepared from before, Daryl slipped into him easily. He started slow and made sure to kiss him through every minute of pleasure.

The hunter’s pace quickened but he remained gentle with his lover, and they stayed silent while their breathing slowly increased. Daryl reached a hand between their bodies and stroked Rick in time with each push of his hips and Rick could feel his orgasm build. When he was almost there, he nodded to Daryl to let him know and the hunter picked up his pace. Their eyes locked as they peaked together and Daryl whispered, “I love you…I love you.” Rick surged onto both their stomachs and Daryl slowed his pace to a stop as they lay there for a minute.

Daryl gently pulled out, but he kept his body on top of his lover’s, tucking his head into Rick’s neck as Rick rubbed gentle circles into his back. After a minute, the hunter slowly lifted up and got to his feet, pulling Rick up with him. They quietly cleaned the entryway of the mess they had made and then went to the shower to clean themselves up. They washed each other like they had done before and then went to lay in bed. As they wrapped their bodies together, they looked into each other’s eyes one more time as they said the same three words. “I love you.”


	25. Chapter 25

The next morning, Rick slowly woke from an amazing night’s sleep and stretched his achy body. Apparently floor sex didn’t do anything for his aging form and he was sore all over. He gently turned over to check to see if his lover was still asleep only to find Daryl’s eyes already open. They both smiled at one another. Rick wrapped his arms around the hunter and they cuddled together on the bed.

Daryl buried his face into Rick’s mop of curls and inhaled deeply. “Still mean it?” he asked in a quiet voice.

Rick grinned because he almost wanted to mess with him and ask what he was talking about. But he wasn’t that cruel and he knew exactly what the hunter was asking. So he leaned his head up and brought his eyes to Daryl’s. He cupped a hand around hunter’s tan face and said, “Yes, Daryl Dixon. I still mean it. I still love you.”

Daryl gave Rick one of his big, genuine smiles and they rolled around the bed and laughed together. Daryl ended up hopping up and jumping up and down on the bed above Rick while he lay below with his hands behind his head. Watching a naked, happy Daryl Dixon jumping on the bed directly above you was a sight to behold and Rick made sure to take a mental picture so he could never forget this moment.

After a minute of jumping, Daryl pounced down on top of Rick and they laughed some more. Finally, they climbed from the bed and walked to the kitchen to start some coffee. Daryl sat on one of the wooden kitchen chairs and hissed slightly as the he made contact with the cold seat; they were both still naked after all. Rick chuckled at him and walked over to straddle his lover on the chair. Once he sat down on Daryl’s lap, facing each other, the hunter wrapped his arms around Rick’s waist and Rick wrapped his around the hunter’s neck.

Rick leaned forward and as their foreheads made contact, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the peaceful moment they were having. Their moment was broken though when Rick’s cellphone rang from the kitchen counter where it was charging. Rick sighed deeply because he hated to break apart from his lover. As he stood and walked to his phone, Daryl gave him a quick smack on the ass. Rick gave Daryl the finger as he picked up his phone and answered it to cease the annoying ringing.

“Hello?”

“Hey Dad.”

“Oh, hey son. Did you have fun last night?” Rick asked. Daryl stood up to fix them both coffee and on the way he stopped and gave one of Rick’s nipples a quick tweak. Rick smiled and smacked him away as he listened to his son.

“Yea, it was pretty cool. The game he showed me looked pretty awesome. Maybe we can get it.”

“Oh, you mean maybe I can buy it for you. In which, I say maybe you can do some more chores around the house and we can talk about it,” Rick told his son. He heard Carl sigh on the other end.

“That’s what I meant, obviously.” Rick could practically hear the eye-roll through the phone. “But I’ll be ready in like an hour.” He glanced at the clock and saw that it was already noon and they had slept later than he had thought.

“Okay. Well, I’ll come and get you in a bit then. Love you son.” They hung up and Rick took the cup of coffee that Daryl offered.

“He ‘bout ready?” the hunter asked.

Rick nodded as he slowly sipped the glorious liquid from his cup. “Mmm Hmm. But we have to go somewhere first.”

“Where?”

“Well, you see, a certain person told me last night that we’d get him a phone and I think he was hoping I would have forgotten about it, but that hasn’t happened,” Rick teased his lover. Daryl groaned and rubbed hand over his face.

“Aw hell. Gotta do that today?” he pleaded at Rick.

“Oh yes, sir. It will happen today.” And with that, Rick grabbed Daryl’s hand and dragged him to the bedroom so they could get dressed.

After they were decent, they hit the jeep and headed into town. They picked out one of the simplest phones they could find. Daryl was adamant about not having some crazy contraption that he had to take a month to figure out how to use. After their shopping trip, they picked Carl up from his friend’s place and headed back home.

Rick made them a light lunch while Carl showed Daryl how to set up the phone. Rick’s son couldn’t help but chuckle at the confused look that crossed the hunter’s face every time he showed him something new. “So Dad, when do I get a phone now that Daryl has one?” Carl asked slyly.

Rick scoffed at his son as he put the finishing touches on their sandwiches. “When are you going to want a phone that’s not what all your friends have? Basically a mini, hand-held computer,” he asked, sitting the plates on the table.

“Aw, c’mon Dad. This way you always know where I am.”

“I already know where you’re always at,” Rick pointed out. “All those places already have phones.” Carl sighed and rolled his eyes. He looked to Daryl to come to his aid.

“Psh! Don’t look at me, kid. I’m with ya Dad on this one. Even I don’t want one of these things,” and he pointed to the phone Rick made him get like it was a diseased piece of plastic. “You’re only thirteen, right? Jus’ enjoy your freedom for now. In a few years, he’ll be sure that you have one them things and jump on your ass when you don’t answer it.” Carl chuckled at Daryl’s statement while Rick rolled his eyes.

“Oh thank you. That’s very helpful,” Rick said and he poked his boyfriend in the side. Daryl gave Rick a wink and they went back to their sandwiches.

They spent the rest of the afternoon around the house and soon enough it was time to head over to Maria’s. They all climbed into the jeep and Rick drove to the address that she gave him. About ten minutes later, they pulled up to a beautiful Dutch Colonial house that seemed out of place in their small, southern town. Daryl whistled at the impressive home and widened his eyes at Rick.

Rick gave his boyfriend a shrug to let him know he had no idea what this was going to be like. They climbed out and made their way to the front door that was painted a bright red. Carl rang the doorbell and just before the door opened, Rick grabbed Daryl’s hand and held it tight.

Maria opened the door and her face beamed when she saw the three of them. She wore her long, black hair down and had a colorful shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Rick felt a little shabby in comparison in his simple jeans and plaid button-up shirt. “Rick!!! How are you? Come in, come in! Introduce me to these gorgeous men with you!” She waved everyone inside.

“Hi, Maria. Well, this is my son Carl,” and Rick gestured to his son with his hand that wasn’t currently holding tight to Daryl. Carl went to shake her hand, but she wasn’t having any of that and she swooped him into a hug and gave him a kiss on the cheek, leaving a faint tint of red lipstick behind. Carl smiled but he quickly rubbed at his cheek when she pulled away.

“And who is this handsome man?” she asked, looking to Daryl.

“This is…my boyfriend. Daryl Dixon,” Rick said a little apprehensively. This was the first time that he’d ever really said that sentence to a person.

“Ohhh. A Dixon? Your family’s reputation precedes you, even in my small part of the world at the M.E.’s office. You certainly know how to pick them, Rick. Come here, sweetie,” and she brought Daryl into the same kind of hug and gave him an even bigger kiss on the cheek. Daryl blushed and Rick didn’t know if it was because of the affection or the fact that she had heard of him through work and she wasn’t even a cop. “Well, I’m Maria Lopez, of course. Welcome to my home.”

She indicated for them to follow her and she gave them a brief tour of the house. “We had this built about five years ago. Juliette, my wife, she drew up the plans and everything. She even decorated it herself.” Rick was impressed by the massive home. It was a beautiful place and he found himself envious.

“This is really nice, Maria. I must be in the wrong field. Maybe I should switch to your job,” Rick joked. This place looked like it must have been pretty pricey to build.

“Oh, please. It’s all Juliette. She writes cookbooks, and let me tell you; they sell better than you’d think.” She whispered the last sentence like it was a secret they should keep between the four of them. Finally, they entered the living room and Maria’s daughters were sitting in a play area within sight of the kitchen where a woman was cooking. Rick assumed that that was Juliette.

“And these are my girls. They’re twins, but we always dress Lula in pink and Raquel in purple. It’s the easiest way to tell them apart. Wave hi, girls,” Maria said to her daughters. The little girls looked up from their crayons and markers and gave them a brief wave. Rick waved back and smiled at them. “Aren’t they cute? They’re only four but they’re learning so fast! And here is my beautiful wife, Juliette!” Maria said as they continued into the kitchen.

“Hello!” Juliette said as she wiped her hands off on her apron and came over to shake their hands.

“Darling, this is my friend, Rick, from work. This is his son Carl. And this is his boyfriend, Daryl,” Maria informed her wife.

“It’s so nice to meet all of you. Rick, Maria has spoken so highly of you. She said you’re the nicest officer she’s met in awhile,” and Juliette beamed at him.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you too. Maria has been incredibly kind and helpful since we came here.” Rick always felt awkward meeting new people, but Juliette had the same kind demeanor as Maria, and he knew he would like her right away.

“Please, sit. Can I get you something to drink? Carl, we have water, sprite, lemonade. Rick and Daryl, we have all that as well as some excellent wine that Juliette brought back from her last book signing trip. What can I get you?” Maria asked. She shuffled them to their beautiful, mahogany kitchen table where they sat down.

“Carl?” Rick looked to his son.

“Uh…lemonade is fine,” Carl said shyly. He was equally as bad as his father around new people.

“Wine will be great for me,” Rick said after his son.

“Me too,” Daryl added. Maria grabbed glasses, quickly filled them, and brought them over. After that, she grabbed plates and started to set the table while she chatted.

“Juliette is making this amazing Osso Buco from this recipe she wrote in the very first cookbook she ever published. It’s my favorite and I can never get her to make it. But she finally gave in when I told her you guys were coming for dinner.” Maria smiled mischievously at her wife who rolled her eyes in return.

“Well, it smells amazing. I can’t wait to eat it,” said Rick. And he meant what he said. The smell of the kitchen was practically mouthwatering.

“You guys are going to love it!” Maria said enthusiastically. Once she got the table set, both her and her wife started to serve dinner. Once everyone’s plates were filled, they sat down with the men and dug in. “So Carl, how are you liking it here?” Maria asked between bites.

His son was caught off guard and he stumbled through his words as he tried to think of an answer. “Uh…it’s good, I guess. I mean, I made some friends. School’s the same.” He shrugged for added effect.

Maria smiled at him reassuringly. “I bet it is. I’ve found that no matter where you go, school is always just as boring. At least until you find a subject that you’re passionate about. For me, that was science.”

“And for me, that was cooking. Of course, I tried accounting and finance first before I got to my real passion,” Juliette added to the conversation. “How about you, Rick? Are you liking it here?”

“Oh yea,” Rick nodded. “It was definitely what we needed and I feel like it gets better as each day goes by.” Rick smiled at Daryl to let him know that he was thinking of him as he spoke. Daryl smirked a little but kept his focus on his plate.

“What brought you here? If you don’t mind me asking. I don’t think Maria ever told me,” said Juliette.

“I don’t think I ever asked. But that’s a good question.” Maria chimed in.

“Uh…well, about a year ago, my wife passed away from cancer.” The table went silent as Rick told the story. “And I just felt like we really needed a fresh start. I hated to pull Carl away from the town he grew up in, but it just didn’t feel right without her with us anymore.”

“Oh, Rick. I’m so sorry. I had no idea,” said Maria. She gave Rick the sad look that he usually got from people when he spoke about Lori. She looked over to Carl then. “Carl’s mother?” Rick nodded and she placed a hand on Carl’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Carl. I know what it’s like to lose a parent and how tough it can be. My father passed away when I was 15 and it was so hard.”

“Thanks,” said Rick’s son. He looked super uncomfortable to be talking about Lori.

“Well, I’m glad that you chose to come here. Why Marion?” Juliette asked, trying to change the subject.

“My father-in-law actually knows Captain Watson. He told me about the job opening up here and I decided to take a chance. And I’m glad I did.” Rick reached over and squeezed Daryl’s hand.

“Well, so are we! So Daryl, what do you do?” Maria asked, turning her attention towards the hunter.

Daryl seemed to freeze as people turned to look at him. “Uh… I work at Phil’s Garage, off of Main.”

“Ahhh, a mechanic! So what do you drive? I’ve never known a mechanic who didn’t take pride in the car that he owned.”

“A motorcycle actually. A ’77 Harley,” the hunter mumbled. He shoved a big bite of food in his mouth to keep himself busy.

“Oh! I love motorcycles. I remember my boyfriend my freshman year of college had a big red bike that he would take us out on!” Maria exclaimed.

“Here we go,” said Juliette who smiled as she teased her wife.

“Oh hush. It was so much fun. It was so freeing! There’s nothing like riding on a motorcycle. It’s incredibly thrilling. I bet that one over there likes it,” Maria said, nodding towards Carl. Carl smiled and started to blush a little. “Uh huh. See? I knew it. How does dad like that?” She asked, looking towards Rick.

“Aw, it’s fine with me. Daryl’s a good driver. I trust him with Carl. Hell, I’m more worried about Carl corrupting him than the other way around,” said Rick and they all had a good chuckle at that. “This man wouldn’t even have a cellphone right now if I hadn’t pushed him to get one today.”

“Really? No cellphone? How does anyone go without one these days?” Maria asked with wide eyes.

“Don’t know,” Daryl shrugged uncomfortably. “Didn’t really have the need for one before.”

“Oh, that’s crazy,” giggled Maria. “So how did you two meet then?”

Rick was quiet for a second as he tried to think of an answer. “Well…we basically met through the station…”

“Oh, c’mon Dad. Don’t lie. He arrested him,” Carl said. Rick sighed at his son. He really should have talked to him before dinner about what was appropriate and what wasn’t, but he didn’t really expect the conversation to take this turn.

“Oh really?” Maria said in a surprised voice. “And now you’re together. It’s like something out a romance novel. I love it!” She gave Rick a reassuring smile.

“Well, it’s not exactly that black and white, but it’s something like that. I mean, I never had any problems with it,” and Rick reached a hand over to grab Daryl’s. But Daryl moved his hands to his lap and his face seemed somewhat blank as he looked down at his plate. That troubled Rick, but he didn’t want to say anything at the table.

They continued chatting as they finished dinner and moved onto dessert. Maria and Juliette brought the girls into the kitchen to eat some of the lemon sorbet that Juliette had made from scratch. The toddlers wrapped up everyone’s attention as the evening winded down. Soon, Maria was walking Rick, Daryl, and Carl to the door and giving everyone a hug goodbye. True to Maria’s word, they all left with very full bellies. They climbed into the jeep and rode back to the house in silence.

Rick glanced over Daryl’s way and tried to catch his eye, but the hunter kept his attention facing the window. Once they pulled into the driveway, they all climbed out. But instead of walking inside with Rick and Carl, Daryl held back. “I think I’m gonna head home,” he mumbled.

Rick stopped short and an alarm went off inside him at Daryl’s words. “I’ll be inside in a minute,” Rick said to Carl and nodded for him to go ahead without him. When they heard the door shut, Rick walked to Daryl and grabbed his hand. “What’s going on? You seemed upset towards the end of dinner.”

Daryl looked away; he wouldn’t meet Rick’s eye. “Nothin’. I’m just tired. Gonna head home and go to bed.” He pulled his hand away from Rick’s and started walking towards his bike.

Rick wasn’t having any of that and he grabbed Daryl’s shoulder to stop him while he moved his body in front of the hunter’s. “No way am I gonna take that as an answer. Now tell me what’s going on.”

Daryl pushed Rick’s hand off of him and all his pent- up frustration seemed to pour out. “What do you think’s wrong? You know how to pick ‘em? Your dead wife? The cellphone? You arresting me? What am I even doing here, Rick?!” Daryl held his arms out like he was fed up.

“Hey, it’s not like that. Nobody meant anything by saying any of that. You’re here because I want you to be here. I’m sorry if it came across as anything other than that. Please don’t be upset. Things just came out the wrong way.” Rick was pleading with his eyes. It was killing him to think that the hunter’s feelings had been hurt from a simple conversation at dinner.

“And what ‘bout next time? Am I always gonna be the guy you arrested? The guy you went gay for after Lori died? The younger Dixon brother? I must be crazy to think this could work. Dating a damn cop.” Daryl turned away and then back around, running both hands over his face and through his hair.

Rick grabbed him by his wrists and tried to hold him still. “Don’t do that. That’s not Daryl talking. That’s Merle talking. And you aren’t him. His words, his thoughts, his feelings, those aren’t apart of our lives anymore. I love you and none of those things matter. ‘Cause you aren’t just Merle’s brother or some guy I arrested or the man I dated after my wife died. You are Daryl Dixon and that is who I fell in love with. Not anybody else and I wouldn’t change that for anything or anyone. Just listen to me and calm down. Please, baby.”

Daryl’s breathing slowed but his face still looked conflicted. “I don’t know. I jus’…I jus’ gotta go for now.” He broke his wrists free and walked to his bike. He yanked his helmet on and sat down and started the motorcycle. He drove away without even looking back at Rick who stood in the driveway as a big pit of despair built its way into his stomach.


	26. Chapter 26

Rick drove to work the next morning in a grim mood. He spent the night tossing and turning in his empty bed and worry ate at him. When he had walked back inside last night, he saw Carl standing at the front window. He had watched the entire scene and he bit his lip nervously while Rick sat down on the sofa.

“Was it because of what I said at dinner? About you arresting him?” Carl asked. He looked genuinely concerned that Daryl was mad at him.

“No. I think this would have happened at some point no matter what. We’re still working everything out. This is as new to him as it is to me,” Rick answered. Carl visibly relaxed at Rick’s reassurances. “But next time, let me answer those kinds of questions, okay? Not everyone is going to take that as well as Maria and Juliette.”

“Yea. I’m sorry Dad. Didn’t even think about it until after I said it. I think I’ll head to bed.” Carl gave Rick a quick hug and then they both turned in for the night.

As Rick pulled into the station’s parking lot, he saw Maria getting out her car, about to head into the building next door. Rick jumped out of the jeep and called out to her. “Hey Maria! Wait up!” She heard her name and turned towards Rick’s voice. She smiled brightly once she saw him and they met in the middle of the parking lot.

“Well, Good Morning! How are you doing, Officer Grimes?” she teased Rick in his uniform.

“I could be better. Just wanted to say thank you again for such a good dinner last night. Juliette was really nice and I hope we can do it again soon.”

“Oh, absolutely! Next time, we should do dinner at your place.”

Rick laughed. “I don’t know about that. I’m really not that great of a cook. Maybe Daryl can whip something together. He does great things with fish.”

“I bet. Was everything okay last night? He seemed kind of quiet.” Maria’s eyes looked a tad concerned.

“Well…he’s naturally pretty quiet at first. But he was kinda upset afterwards. I think he just doesn’t wanna get bogged down by his past and some of the things we said made him feel a certain way, I s’pose.” Rick shrugged at his friend.

“Oh no. I love Daryl. He seems like he really cares for you and Carl. I hope it wasn’t anything I said. I’m such a big mouth; I don’t ever realize what I say until about three days later!”

“No, it’s okay. Like I told Carl, I think it’s something that was going to happen sooner or later. We’re still getting all the kinks worked out. This is still pretty new for both of us.”

“Well, don’t work all those kinks out!” Maria said and she winked at Rick. He laughed at her innuendo and then they both parted ways into their separate buildings.

Rick sat down at his desk and went through the stacks of files that had been placed there over the weekend. He started to separate them when the Captain called him into his office. Rick walked in and sat down.

“How ya doin’, Grimes?” the Captain asked as he stroked his moustache.

“Pretty good, sir. Had a good weekend. Ready to get back on the Belews case. Any updates?”

“Well, I talked to Shane this morning and he already left to go check out a lead on one of the boat names. I wanted you to try to look further into this Misty lead you told me about. I had Mike and J.T. look into it and they couldn’t find any arrest records for a prostitute named Misty in the county. So either she’s new in town or she’s good at staying below our radar. Either way, I need you to find this girl, Grimes.”

“Yes, sir. I’ve been thinking of going through the trailer park where she was last seen. Going door to door,” Rick said.

“That could lead to something. Give it a try and update me in a few hours.” The Captain gave Rick his dismissal and he headed out.

Once he grabbed a spare cruiser, since Shane had taken the one they shared, he headed straight to the trailer park on Camden. This was one of the biggest trailer parks in town and that made for a lot of doors to knock on. A lot his knocks went unanswered and he was feeling frustrated by the tenth trailer. Finally, around the fifteenth door, an old woman answered.

“Yea? What d’ya want?” she asked in a throaty voice. She was probably close to her 80s and she wore an old bath robe with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

“Excuse me, ma’am. I’m looking for a certain person. Her name’s Misty and she’s shorter with blonde hair. You might have seen her around this area.” Rick had said the same sentence almost a dozen times now and it slipped from his mouth with ease.

“You mean that whore that lives at the end? Surprised you guys are lookin’ for her already. She ain’t even been here that long,” she said as she tapped her cigarette on the frame of her door.

“So you’ve seen her? She lives in this neighborhood? Do you know exactly which one?” Rick couldn’t believe he’d finally found someone that knew something.

“Well I guess it’d be the one with men wandering in and out, day and night, wouldn’t it?” she said sarcastically. Rick gave her a look that meant he was serious and she sighed. “It’s the fucking pale blue one down on the end. With the faded green shutters,” and she pointed towards the end of the line of trailers. Rick thanked her and hopped back into his cruiser and drove to where she directed him.

He walked up to the door and knocked. He waited for maybe a minute, listening carefully. He thought he could hear some talking coming from inside the trailer, so he knocked again with a little more force. He then heard feet stomping to the door and he braced for what could be on the other side.

“Fuck! What is it!?!?” a short, blonde girl yelled when she yanked the door open. When she saw it was a police officer, she pulled the door back some and stood in the small crack she had left open. “Yea? What is it?” She seemed very annoyed that she had a cop on her steps to deal with.

“Are you Misty?” Rick asked. She seemed to fit the description: short, blonde hair, and she definitely seemed like she was on some sort of drug.

“Yea. What’s it to you?” she asked smugly.

“My name is Officer Rick Grimes and I need to talk to you. It’s about a girl you were seen with a few weeks ago. Her name was Tina or Teeny.”

“What? I ain’t seen that skank in days. She was supposed to give me money, but she just fucking bailed.”

“Have you seen the news lately? Know about the body they found out in Belews?” The girl shook her head. “Well, it’s been confirmed that it was Teeny’s body. It seems like she was murdered. I’ve done some digging and it looks like you were the only one to know her here in Marion.”

“Man, whatever. I barely knew that girl. We met on the streets outside Atlanta. Told her my uncle just died and he left met his craphole trailer, but I was gonna make use of it. She asked me if she could tag along and I said sure. We were here a few weeks before she peaced out.”

“Do you know where she went? Who she was seeing? Look, we don’t care about the prostitution, we just need to get some answers about who saw what, so we can catch whoever did this.” Rick had his notepad and pen in hand, ready to write down all the details she could give.

Just then, they heard a voice call out from inside the trailer. “Hey babygirl. Where’d you go? Daddy needs some lovin’ and I’m payin’ by the hour.” The blonde quickly rolled her eyes and looked behind the door. She yelled for whoever that was to wait and she turned back to Rick.

“Look, I got to go. You’re fucking with my money right now.”

Rick sighed as he realized he wasn’t going to get anything else from her right now, but he wasn’t about to lose his one good lead. “No, you look. I’ll let you finish this up, but I expect a phone call by five p.m. today. You get me?” He pulled out one of his cards and wrote his cell number on the back. “And if I don’t hear from you, I’ll be sure to come back with three other officers and a warrant to search this trailer from top to bottom. And they don’t have any problems with letting the people around this town know that you’re closed for business.”

“God! Fucking fine. I’ll fucking call you. Now get outta here before he looks out the window and sees your goddamn cop car and leaves with all his money.” She snatched the card from Rick’s hand and closed the door.

Rick sighed and went back to his cruiser. At least he had a lead that he could work with now. He looked at the clock on his dash and saw that it was already noon. Knocking on all those doors had taken a lot longer than he’d planned. He stopped and grabbed a quick lunch before he made his way back to the station. As he pulled into the parking lot and stepped out of the car, he saw Shane pull in behind him.

Shane got out of his own vehicle and walked by Rick. “Hey. The Captain said you had a lead this morning and he sent you to check it out. Any luck?” Rick asked his partner.

“Hell yea, man. Follow me,” Shane directed and Rick walked behind him into the station. While they walked, Rick remembered something.

“Hey, I forgot to tell you on Friday night since it was so crazy, but I saw Melissa at the diner earlier that day. She said for you to call her. Of course, she called you tiger and made a weird claw mark at me. Not sure what that was about.”

“Yea? Well ole Red must want some more of what she got,” Shane said with a bawdy wink.

Both men walked into the Captain’s office then and waited while the Captain finished with a phone call. “Okay Jerry. Well, I just had two officers walk into my office uninvited and unannounced so this better be good. I’ll call you back.” He hung up his phone and looked at the two men. “Alright boys. What we got?”

Rick looked to Shane since he seemed to have some actual news to tell. Rick had only found a person who might be able to help them, but she hadn’t done so yet. Shane spoke in hurried voice. “Sir, I have evidence of who committed this murder.”

“Well spit it out then, dammit!” the Captain said in an exasperated tone.

Shane looked to Rick and then turned back to the Captain. “I have every reason to believe it was the Dixon brothers.”


	27. Chapter 27

Rick’s mouth went dry instantly and his heart dropped into his stomach. He felt almost a little dizzy from the words he just heard. Daryl? His Daryl? Murder? Rick was completely in shock. He knew that Shane had to be wrong. “What?!” Rick said in a voice much higher than he had intended.

“Oh come on, Walsh. The Dixons are hellions but murder ain’t exactly their game. You better have something to back this up.” The Captain tapped a pen impatiently on his desk as he spoke.

“Look, I went through the boat list. Merle Dixon’s boat is on the lake. I searched it and found fishing line just like what the victim’s hands were tied with,” Shane said emphatically. “Now Merle ain’t no stranger to picking up hookers and I think he probably had one too many, got pissed and took it out on our victim.”

“He had fishing line on his boat?! Is that all you got?” Rick asked with wide eyes.

“Nah. I went around to all the bars in the county, asked if they seen Merle that night. Don’t nobody remember seeing him, and Merle ain’t somebody you’d forget walking into your bar.”

“That means nothing! Since when do you just go around accusing people?” Rick turned his body to face Shane and he stood firm with his hands on his belt. “And you said the Dixon brothers? Where does Daryl factor into all this?” Rick’s voice hitched a little when he said his lover’s name.

“Well, no one can account for him either. Went by the garage they both work at. Merle didn’t even work that day and Daryl left by four. Way I see it, Merle got himself into trouble and got his brother to help him out. They waited until dark, brought the body to the boat, and dumped her in Belews.” Rick couldn’t believe the words he was hearing. He turned to look at his Captain and saw the man had a wrinkled brow, deep in thought.

Rick couldn’t even let him consider this possibility and before he could stop himself, words came pouring out of his mouth. “Sir! You can’t listen to this!” He pointed to Shane as he spoke. “Shane’s just looking for a suspect and he thinks he found one in Merle and Daryl. But he’s always had it out for the Dixons!”

“Man, fuck you Rick!” Shane practically yelled. “Why don’t you say what this is really about?” Rick turned to Shane and his partner gave him a knowing look.

“What’s he talking about, Grimes?” the Captain asked.

Rick sighed and knew it was time to come clean, if only to save Daryl from this witch hunt. “Sir…I know that Daryl Dixon had nothing to do with any of this.”

“How’s that, son?”

“Because he was with me that Thursday. From the time he got off of work…until the next morning.” Rick looked down at the floor, unable to meet his Captain’s eye.

“You telling me what I think you’re telling me?” the Captain asked.

“Yes, sir. I’ve been seeing Daryl for awhile now.” Rick felt his whole face go up in flames. Not because he was admitting to being with a man, but because it was someone so well known in their station for his rap sheet and it would look bad on Rick’s position to be with someone who he had arrested.

“Aw hell, Grimes. And you knew about this, Walsh?” The Captain turned his attention to Shane.

“No, sir. Found out this morning. Mike and J.T. done seen ‘em out at County Line over the weekend. It’s all over the station,” Shane replied.

“Well it sure as shit didn’t make its way to me, did it?!” the Captain said with an angry tone to his voice.

“With all due respect, sir, Rick is just making up a story to protect his lil’ boyfriend.” At Shane’s accusation, Rick had to clutch his fists closed and breathe deep so he wouldn’t lash out at his partner. The last thing he needed to do was let his anger get the best of him.

“He’s got a point, Grimes. You got anybody to corroborate this?”

“Yes, sir. My son was with us. Daryl took us fishing on the boat him and Merle share, out on High Rock Lake. That boat wasn’t even at Belews that day.” Rick couldn’t hide the vehemence in his voice as he spoke, glancing at Shane.

“That don’t mean it didn’t get moved after. And he may take up for Daryl, but Merle still ain’t got no alibi, which still makes him a suspect in my book. He’s prone to violent outbursts and I wouldn’t put this past him for a second,” Shane said pointedly.

“Captain, all of this is completely circumstantial. There’s no solid proof of anything leading to Merle Dixon.” Rick hated Merle as much as the next man, but he was still his boyfriend’s brother and Rick was pretty sure Merle wouldn’t do something like this.

“He’s right about that Walsh. There’s nothing solid yet. Tell me you got a warrant before you searched that boat?” the Captain questioned Shane.

“Well with Merle’s record, it wasn’t too hard to get one for the boat. What we found on the boat could help us get one for his house,” said Rick’s partner.

The Captain nodded solemnly for a minute. “Alright. Go get started on the warrant for the home. Rick, stay back for a minute.” Shane gave Rick a slightly smug look before he walked out of the office. The Captain nodded for Rick to close the door. Once they were alone, the Captain sighed loudly. “Dammit Grimes. You were doing so good. And now this? You know something like this looks bad on the department.”

“I know, sir. And I’m sorry for that. Hurting the department was never my intention. But you have to know that Merle Dixon didn’t do this. Shane doesn’t care about who really killed Tina Mason. He’s just looking for the glory of being the one to find a murderer and he’s willing to pin it on the one person who he hates the most.” Rick was adamant about changing his Captain’s mind.

“I don’t know what to think right this second. Murder doesn’t seem like Merle’s cup of tea, but we’ll have to wait and see what that search warrant brings up. Now, as for Shane, that man’s been in my station for years, and I won’t have him badmouthed in my office. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Rick answered. He held back the sigh that threatened to escape his lips.

“We’ll talk about this Daryl situation later, once I’ve had time to think. Did you have any luck finding this Misty girl?” the Captain asked.

“I did. She’s living in the trailer park. I found her and spoke with her. She claims that she didn’t know the victim very well, only a few weeks. They met around Atlanta and came here. She thought Tina had left town. Our conversation was cut short, but I should be hearing from her again before the end of the day.”

“Well, if you want to exonerate Merle Dixon then you better get some more information from that girl. Let me know when you have more. You’re dismissed.” Rick nodded at his Captain and he walked out of the office. After he shut the door behind him and turned around, Rick felt like every eye was on him. Rick didn’t care and he walked through the station with his head held high.

As he walked out the front doors, he passed Mike and J.T. walking in. J.T. gave Rick a look of distaste and kept walking but Mike stopped to talk to him. “Hey, Rick. Can we talk for a second?”

Rick prepared himself for the worst as he stood to the side of the doors. “Sure. What’s up?”

“I just want you to know that I didn’t say anything about what I saw at the bar. J.T. has a big mouth and he made sure everyone got the news. I’m sorry, man.” Mike looked sincere as he spoke.

“Nah, I should thank him. Saved me the trouble, I s’pose. Don’t think it’s anything I’d lose my job over, but I’m sure it knocked me down a few pegs in regards to the Captain.”

“Well, look man. If anyone gives you any shit, just let me know. I’ll take care of them. My brother’s gay, been with his husband for 10 years. That guy is like a brother to me. I know we live in the south and people still think pretty backwards here, but I’m not one of them.”

Rick actually felt comforted by Mike’s words and he gave the man a handshake and a thank you before he walked to his cruiser. He hopped in and pulled onto the main road. There was only one place that he needed to be right now.

A few minutes later, Rick pulled the cop car in behind a line of cars waiting for oil changes. He jumped out and walked into Phil’s Garage. He looked around and finally saw a familiar body underneath a car. He walked up to it and said, “Daryl, I need to talk to you.”

Daryl’s body froze underneath the vehicle he was working on and he slowly rolled out from underneath it. He laid there for a second, looking up at Rick while he yanked his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his greasy hands. “Don’t wanna talk about last night right now, ‘specially not here,” the hunter mumbled.

“This isn’t about last night. Where can we be alone? We need to talk now,” Rick said in a stressed voice. He needed to get these words out.

Daryl sighed and slowly sat up. He got up from the floor and motioned for Rick to follow him into the small office just off of the garage. He held the door open and once Rick walked in, he shut it behind them. “So what’s this about then?” Daryl leaned against the edge of the desk and pulled a cigarette out from his pocket.

“Shane came into station today and told the Captain that he had evidence that you and Merle are the ones behind the Belews murder.”

“What the fuck?!” Daryl stood up from his leaning stance and a shocked expression overtook his face.

“He saw Merle’s boat at Belews, got a warrant to search it and found fishing line. He’s making some bullshit connection since the victim was tied with the same thing. He said he asked around and Merle wasn’t accounted for that night.”

“What the fuck’s that got to do with me, then?” Daryl asked bewildered.

“He said you weren’t anywhere to be found either. But…I gave you an alibi. I told the Captain you were with me. And that the boat wasn’t even at Belews that day. But that only helps you. He said Merle could have moved the boat afterwards.”

Daryl bit his lip nervously. “We didn’t even move that damn boat until a few days later! The only reason it’s at Belews is ‘cause of the fishing tournament coming up next weekend. Merle wanted to scout out a good spot ‘head of time.” He took a nervous puff on his smoke as he started to pace around the small office.

“Okay. So do you know what Merle was doing that night we were together?” Rick asked. He took Daryl’s spot of leaning against the desk so the hunter could have the room to pace. Rick figured his lover had to work off the anxiety somehow.

“Shit! How the fuck am I s’pose to know? Don’t keep tabs on the fucker!” Daryl said in an exasperated voice.

“Well, we gotta figure something out. They’re getting a search warrant for the house right now. What if you came to station and made a statement?” Daryl stopped his pacing as Rick spoke.

“They’re gettin’ a damn search warrant? Fuck. I gotta go!” Daryl swung open the door to the office and ran out. “Yo! Phil! I gotta run man. Emergency!” Daryl yelled to the garage owner who just gave the hunter a nod in return.

Rick followed Daryl to his bike. “Where the hell you going?” he asked his boyfriend.

“Gotta warn Merle,” the hunter replied as he pulled on his helmet.

“Warn him? Is that really gonna do anything?”

“Don’t matter. He’s still my brother. You’d want someone to do the same for you.”

Rick thought for a second and realized he could see Daryl’s point. “I’m gonna follow you. Not letting you go alone.” Daryl just gave Rick a nod as he cranked the bike and pulled off. Rick hopped in the cruiser and quickly followed.

They pulled up to the old house that the Dixon brothers shared a few minutes later. Daryl stepped off his bike and pulled his helmet off. Just as Rick shut the door to the cruiser, they heard the screen door open on the front porch. “The hell you doin’ bringin’ that fucker here, baby brother?”

Rick turned towards the voice and saw Merle leaning against the once white porch. He held a small bottle of some kind of brown liquor in his hand and periodically took a swig from it. Rick looked to Daryl and gave him a slight nod to let him know he’d try to stay out of it as best as he could. He was really only here to support his boyfriend, not to help this ignorant, intolerant man in front of them.

“Don’t worry ‘bout that, Merle. Look man, cops think you done killed that girl they found out in Belews. They’re gettin’ a search warrant right now! They could be here any minute.” Daryl stood in front of his brother and spoke in a serious tone.

“What? This dickhead the one who told ya that?” Merle nodded in Rick’s direction. “Bet he’s the one who said it was me! What the hell you doin’, man?! Can’t listen to no cops! Didn’t I teach you nothin’?” He smacked a hand against the side of Daryl’s head. Rick had to resist the urge to jump up on the porch and teach the elder Dixon a lesson about touching Daryl like that. He figured he’d let Daryl try one more time before he cut in.

“Merle! Stop being so goddamn stubborn and listen! Listen to me! Cops could be here any minute. Who knows what they’ll find in that house to use against you. They think you killed someone, man!” Daryl was practically pleading now. He held his arms out to show he had nothing to hide. 

Merle looked at him for a second and squinted his eyes. He took another sip from the bottle in his hand and shook his head. “Nah…Didn’t kill nobody. They can sure as shit come and try to prove otherwise, though. Then they’ll answer to my ole .22.” Merle held up his empty hand and pointed it like he held a gun, pulling the invisible trigger while a grim smile crossed his face.

“Fuck Merle! Don’t be fucking stupid!” Daryl yelled in a frustrated tone.

“What’d you say to me?” Merle’s face turned serious. He dropped his bottle to the ground and the glass broke into tiny pieces. He slowly stepped forward, walking down the porch steps. “Gonna teach you some respect once and for all.” And with that, Merle pulled an arm back and brought his fist to Daryl’s face.

Rick saw a flash of red when the elder Dixon’s knuckles made contact with Daryl. This was the last time that ever happened and he was going to make sure of it. He ran up and pulled Daryl out of the way. As he stepped into Daryl’s place, Merle had already brought his fist back for another punch, but Rick stopped the man’s arm short and brought his own fist to Merle’s face. The punch landed hard and hit him right in the nose. Merle was shaken by the contact and Rick took the opportunity to lay another into him.

The second blow hit just as hard and it sent Merle to the ground. Before Rick could stop himself, he was on top of the elder Dixon, laying hit after hit into Merle. Soon, he felt arms wrap around his own and pull him up. He tried to pull away but once he realized it was Daryl holding him back, he stopped resisting and tried to catch his breath. “Easy…He’s down,” Daryl whispered into Rick’s ear.

Rick relaxed and his boyfriend finally let him go. He leaned down and placed his hands on his knees while he tried to calm all the adrenaline that had rushed to his head. He looked down and saw that his knuckles were already starting to swell and were smattered with the blood of Merle Dixon. Rick finally looked at the man on the ground and saw Merle holding his hands over his face while he tried to gain some momentum to get up.

“You don’t ever touch him again!” Rick yelled to him. “Now, pack your shit and go hunting or whatever the fuck it is that you do. Just the get the hell out of town for awhile. Because if Shane finds one scrap of evidence in this house, they won’t hesitate lock you up for good.”

Rick felt Daryl’s hand slip into his and he looked over to see that Daryl was watching him with an intense look. Rick couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was, but it made him feel better about things between them. Merle finally staggered to his feet and looked at the two of them standing together. He spit a mouthful of blood on the ground next to them and turned around to walk back into the house.

Rick and Daryl walked over to the cruiser and leaned against the hood and waited in silence. Eventually, Merle walked out the back door and went to the black truck with a few bags in his hands. Daryl looked at Rick and gave him a quick nod to let him know everything was okay. He walked over to his brother and they wordlessly picked up the bags and tossed them into the back. Once everything was loaded, they spoke a few brief words and quickly hugged. Merle hopped into the truck and pulled out of the driveway, not even bothering to glance Rick’s way.

Daryl motioned for Rick to sit on the porch and the hunter ran inside the house. He came back a minute later and handed Rick a wash cloth to wipe the blood off with and then a bag of ice for his knuckles. The hunter sat down next to him and they were silent for a minute.

“What’d he say?” Rick finally asked.

“Gonna go to our hunting spot for a few days to wait it out,” Daryl replied.

“And the hug?”

Daryl shrugged. “Merle’s always been that way. Smack ya with one hand, pat ya on the back with the other.”

Rick nodded in understanding. “I meant what I said. Never again. I don’t care if that means you can’t ever come back to this house.” Daryl smirked at Rick’s words.

“And what? Come live with you?”

“We’ll do what we have to…” Rick trailed off.

This time Daryl really did smile and he leaned over, placing a quick kiss to Rick’s lips. Just as they pulled apart, two more Marion Police Department cruisers pulled onto the dusty driveway. “Looks like the cavalry’s here,” Daryl sighed.


	28. Chapter 28

Shane got out and slammed his car door shut. “Well look who’s already here,” he said to the other officers who came with him. He brought along Mike, J.T., and one more officer who Rick wasn’t too familiar with. Rick stood up on the porch and leaned against the railing.

“Four guys? Don’t you think that’s a bit much to execute a search warrant?” Rick asked his partner.

Shane shook his head as he walked up. “Gotta be thorough man. We’re looking for a murderer, after all.”

Daryl stood up next to Rick and gave Shane a dirty look. “Well it sure as hell ain’t my brother. Y’all can look all y’all want, but ya ain’t gonna find nothin’.”

“We’ll see about that,” said Shane. “Why don’t you two stay out here? Don’t need the lovebirds getting in our way.” He handed Daryl the warrant and then him and the other men walked into the house to begin their search.

Rick bristled at the last sentence but Daryl didn’t seem phased by it. They stood on the porch while they heard various things being moved around the house. They winced when they heard a loud crash and Rick sighed. “I better go in there and watch them or else they’re gonna tear your house to shreds.”

Daryl shrugged but then nodded to his lover. “Think I’ll head back to the garage. Phil had a line of cars waitin’ on oil changes and he’ll spit nails if I don’t come back. They won’t find nothin’ here.”

Rick nodded and he walked Daryl over to his bike. They wrapped their arms around each other and brought their lips together for a quick, yet sweet, kiss. As Rick hugged the hunter tight, he whispered, “Don’t worry…I’m gonna figure out who did this.”

“You damn well better,” Daryl said as they pulled apart. He winked at Rick and gave him a light smack on the ass. After he pulled away on the bike, Rick walked back up the porch and inside the house.

The living room was already a wreck. All the furniture had been moved and some of couch cushions had been cut open. Rick groaned and walked into the kitchen where Mike and J.T. were searching. Mike was taking his time and going steadily through each drawer and cabinet, but J.T. was yanking things open and spilling the contents onto the floor.

“Hey, there’s no need for that. This is someone else’s property. Show some respect,” Rick said.

“What’d you say to me?” J.T. asked heatedly, stopping what he was doing and bringing his attention to Rick.

“Aw hell, J.T. C’mon. He’s right. Just take it easy,” Mike said to his partner, putting a hand on J.T.’s chest to hold him back. J.T.’s eyes flicked from Rick to Mike and then he went back to his search, using only a little more care.

Rick left the kitchen and went to the back of the house. Shane and the other man were going through Daryl’s room now. They had already lifted up the mattresses and were tossing things out of the closet as they rifled through it. Things were getting thrown left and right around the room, making a needless mess.

“Hey, I just talked to J.T about this. Just take it easy. There’s no need to completely trash this place.” He spoke in an even voice because he knew Shane didn’t like being told what to do.

Shane looked over at Rick and scoffed as he rolled his eyes. “Oh, yes sir, your highness. Here, how ‘bout some reading material while you wait. You should like that.” He kicked a magazine across the floor. Rick looked down and saw that it was a gay porn magazine that Daryl must have hidden somewhere and they had found it while they searched.

Rick rolled his eyes and made his way back to the front of the house. He stood around for an hour while they continued to rifle through things. Finally, he got bored and sat on the back porch while they finished with the house and moved on to the garage out back. As Shane walked by Rick, he stopped and said, “Funny. Looks like most of Merle’s stuff is gone. You wouldn’t happen to know where he is, would you?”

He gave Rick a look like he knew that Rick had tipped Merle off, but Rick just shrugged his shoulders and said, “Nah man. Ain’t seen him in days. Neither has Daryl.” Rick made sure to mention that Daryl hadn’t seen him either. The last thing he wanted was for his boyfriend to be grilled in an interrogation room down at the station on the whereabouts of his brother.

“Uh huh,” Shane said as he stood there glaring at Rick with an intense look. Finally, he followed the other men to the garage and they continued their search. Rick looked at his watch and it was just about time for Carl to be getting home from school, so he pulled out his cellphone and dialed the house. His son picked up after the third ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey. How was your day?” Rick asked.

“Pretty good. You still on duty?”

“Yea. I might have to work late tonight,” Rick said as he thought about Misty and how if he didn’t hear from her by five, he was going over to her trailer to finish his questioning.

“Okay. That’s cool. Have you talked to Daryl? Are things any better?”

“Yea, I saw him today. I think things are okay. There something in the kitchen for you to eat?”

“Let me check.” Rick waited as his son walked to the kitchen. “Yea, there’s a couple things.”

“Okay. Hopefully I won’t be home too late. I’ll call if I am. Love you, son.”

“Love you, too.” Rick hung up the phone and sat it on the arm rest of his chair. He’d just have to wait and see if Misty would call. He looked up and saw the men had pretty much finished and they walked out of the garage empty handed. Shane looked pretty irate and he stomped back into the house while the other men stood on the porch by Rick.

“Find anything?” Rick asked.

Mike shook his head and sighed. “Nah man. A few weapons here and there, but they were clean. Didn’t even find any hair more than an inch long. Don’t think anything happened here. Shane’s pretty determined though.” He nodded back towards the house and Rick could hear Shane going through the rooms again, although this time, things were definitely getting thrown around with more force.

Rick sighed and leaned back in the plastic porch chair, which groaned underneath him. “Guess that leaves y’all empty handed.”

“C’mon, Mike. Let’s roll,” said J.T.

“Nah, I’ll stay here and wait for Shane. Y’all two head back.” The two officers nodded and headed out in one of the cruisers. Mike sat down next to Rick and they waited in silence for a minute.

Rick decided to be the first one to speak. “Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for what you said earlier. It’s nice to know that one person at the station has my back. ‘Cause I think I’ve lost everyone else, including my own partner.”

“Aw, it’s no problem man. Don’t worry about the other guys. They just take time to get use to anything different. The human condition, ya know? I’m sure you ain’t the first gay cop in Georgia anyway.”

“Maybe not Georgia, but Marion PD?” Rick asked with raised eyebrows.

“Well…maybe,” Mike relented and they both had a good chuckle. “So you got any leads for this case man? Between me and you, I know Merle Dixon didn’t do this shit. Shane’s always had it out for him.”

“Well I found that Misty girl the Captain told y’all about. She was at the trailer park on Camden, but I caught her in the middle of a customer. She shooed me away so she could finish her transaction. Told her she better call me by five or else we’re gonna head over with lights flashing and scare away her business.” Mike chuckled and nodded at Rick and they returned to their silent states while they listened to Shane crashing around the interior of the house.

Just then, Rick’s phone rang and he looked down to see an unrecognizable number. “This might be her…” Rick pulled out his notepad and pen and then answered his phone, putting it on speaker so he could write down any information she gave him. “This is Grimes.”

“Hey. This is Misty.”

Relief washed over Rick at the sound of her greeting. It was getting late enough to where he didn’t think she was going to bother to call him and then he’d have to go hunt her down again. “Hey. So can we continue the conversation we were having earlier?”

She sighed all the way on the other end of the phone. “I guess. But I really don’t know much.”

“Well anything can help. So you said you only knew her a few weeks?”

“Yea. Like I said, we were both hookin’ on the same corner just outside of Atlanta. She looked lonely, so I was nice and took her under my wing. She hadn’t been in the game long and I figured she’d do better to come with me instead of getting snatched up by some dirty pimp.”

“Okay. And how long were you two here?” Rick asked.

“Just a few weeks. Told her she had to start paying some rent. She boohooed and begged me to cut her some slack, but this place ain’t free.”

Rick rolled his eyes at the girl’s attitude and looked over to Mike, who was listening intently. “Okay, so do you know who she was seeing? Did she have any regular customers?”

“Ummm…I mean she had a lot of guys. She had that baby face that old men love. Not anyone that I could pick out of lineup though. Most of her dates happened in cars. She never brought anyone back here.”

“Was there anyone in particular? Someone that she saw more than once? Anyone that sticks out in your mind?” Rick was grasping at straws now.

The girl sighed again. “I don’t know man. I mean there was this one guy that she saw maybe two or three times. She said they never met in town, she always hitched rides over to the next county to meet him. Guess he didn’t wanna risk it, but that’s a long way to go just for some snatch.” The girl chuckled at her own words.

“What town was it? Did she say anything else about him? Maybe what he looked like? What he did for a living? The kind of car he drove? Anything at all?” Rick flipped his notepad to the next page. He’d already filled two sides of one sheet.

“Uh…I think she wrote the town down somewhere on a notepad. Let me look. I mean…I don’t know what he looked like. She said he was good looking but I guess she’d say that about any guy with a badge.” Rick’s ears perked up at that last sentence.

“A badge? What do you mean a badge?” Rick’s eyes met Mike’s and they both had the same worried expression.

“Oh, didn’t I say that already? Yea, she said the first time she saw him, he pulled up in a normal car wearing street clothes, but he showed her a badge, like a cop badge. Said that she needed to treat him extra nice or he’d put her behind bars or some shit. I told her he was probably lying, it was probably a fake badge, but she seemed pretty sure he was the real deal.”

Rick and Mike exchanged concerned looks and Mike stood up to pace the porch. “Okay, this is really important. You need to tell me anything else that you can about this one man. Did Teeny tell you anything else about him?”

“Uh…I don’t know. Tan? She said his hair was dark. He had a big tattoo across his back too. Of like a tiger or a lion. She said she liked it because it made her want to claw him up or something. Oh, here’s the note. She wrote the Lindley Park Motel. 426 State Street. Jefferson. So I guess that’s where she went to meet him.”

Rick’s heart started pounding as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Jefferson, tan, dark hair, the tattoo. Now he understood what the waitress had been saying to him at the diner. She had called Shane a tiger and made a claw with her hand. He felt a little dizzy as he realized that Shane was the man Misty was describing. Rick looked up at Mike and judging from the look on his face, he was thinking the same thing.

“Alright, Misty. Thank you for the information. I’ll contact you if I have any more questions,” Rick said in a grave tone. He hung up the cellphone and it slipped from his slightly shaky hands. It smacked the porch with a light thud and Rick sighed as the realization of what he had just discovered sank in.

Mike ran his hands over his face nervously. Suddenly, Rick realized that he didn’t hear any noise coming from inside the house. He stood quickly, but before he could open the door to go inside, he saw Shane’s form standing on the other side. His partner was just a few inches away, right next to the screen door, and Rick realized that he must have heard everything.

“Shane…” Rick said cautiously.

Shane walked forward and pushed the screen door open. As he stepped through the doorway, Rick slowly backed up until he hit the porch railing behind him. Shane’s face actually looked quite calm for having just been found out as a murderer.

“Man, I was hoping it wouldn’t go down like this…” Shane mumbled. He huffed out a breath and shook his head. A small, slightly crazed smile worked its way across his mouth.

“It doesn’t have to go down like anything Shane.” Rick tried to maintain a calm voice as he held his hands up. Rick’s eyes darted over to Mike, who was slowly going for the pistol on his hip.

“Don’t even fucking think about, Mike!” Shane brought up his own weapon that he had been holding behind his back.

“Shane! Man, c’mon. Don’t do anything that you’ll regret!” Rick shouted.

“Fuck you, Grimes! If it wasn’t for you, none of this would have happened!” Shane turned his gun towards Rick now. He spoke with utter fury and hate filled his eyes.

“I didn’t kill that girl, Shane…” Rick spoke softly to his partner.

“Man, you think I wanted to?” Shane asked, his eyes turning soft as tears started to well up. “S’pose to be a one time thing but man…she was sweet. Then by the third time, she threatened to rat me out if I didn’t give her money. Couldn’t have that…I’ve done everything for this job. It’s all I got…” Shane wiped a quick hand to his eyes, clearing away any evidence of the weakness he’d just shown.

“C’mon Shane. Let’s just keep our heads right now. You don’t have to hurt anyone.” Rick was trying to think quickly about what to do. He’d never in a million years think he’d be in a situation like this.

“Nah, I gotta do what I gotta do.” With that, Shane turned his gun towards Mike and Rick could see the look in Shane’s eye. He was going to pull that trigger. In a split second decision, Rick crossed the five feet between them and pushed Shane’s arm just as the gun went off. The bullet went to the left of Mike, missing his head by inches. Shane’s arm hit the side of the house, but he reared it back and elbowed Rick right in the jaw.

Rick was thrown off balance and he fell to the ground. Shane brought his arm over and aimed his weapon at Rick. Rick brought his hands up in defense and turned his head, tightly closing his eyes. He quickly heard four gun shots go off and when he slowly opened them, he saw Shane slumped over at his feet, with bullet wounds in his chest. Mike stood on the other side of him, wide eyed, with his pistol in his hand, finger still on the trigger.

Rick suddenly realized that he only saw three gun shots in Shane and then he looked down. That was when he noticed the blood starting to trickle out of his stomach. Once he saw the wound in his body, the pain that went along with it hit like a stack of bricks. A searing, hot, burning sensation worked across his abdomen and he put a hand over the hole to try to staunch some of the bleeding. He started to breathe rapidly as thoughts of Carl and Daryl floated through his mind. The last thing he saw before blacking out was Mike crouching over him, talking rapidly into his radio that he had an officer down.


	29. Chapter 29

Rick could hear the vague sound of voices slowly rouse him from sleep. He could hear a small beeping somewhere to his left and the room looked dim as he gradually opened his eyes. He blinked a few times to help clear his vision and the first thing he saw was his son. Carl was holding onto his left hand, but he had his head laying down.

Rick slowly understood that he was lying on a big bed and his son was sitting in a chair next to him and he had fallen asleep at Rick’s side. Carl’s grip was light and Rick could feel the slight moisture hit his fingertips each time he exhaled. Rick slowly smiled at how peaceful a picture that seemed to him and tried to keep still as he watched.

“Hey there,” Rick heard a husky voice say to his right. He turned his head, but he did so a little too quickly and the room got dizzy. “Whoa…take it easy.” He felt fingers grasp his right hand and as his vision slowly cleared, Daryl came into view. Rick smiled languidly at his lover. He felt a little loopy, but he wasn’t exactly sure why.

“Baby…” Rick whispered. His voice felt a little scratchy. He squeezed Daryl’s hand as hard as he could, which wasn’t very hard, and asked, “What happened? Where are we?”

“In the hospital. You were in surgery for a few hours. It’s still early. You should get some rest. Go back to sleep.” Daryl leaned down and kissed Rick’s palm.

Rick slowly remembered what had happened. Shane, the gun, Mike shooting Shane, but not before Rick got hit. “Oh…Shane…” A wave of sadness washed over Rick as he realized that his partner was now dead. He was also a murderer and that was just as hard for Rick to take in.

“Don’t worry ‘bout that now.” Daryl stroked Rick’s cheek, trying to sooth him. “Go back to sleep.”

Rick looked at his lover and felt drowsiness start to overtake him. “Love you…” he whispered as he started to doze back off. The last thing Rick heard was the mumbling voices of the TV in the background.

Rick woke again a few hours later and this time there were more lights on in the room. He gently fluttered his eyelids open again and the first thing he saw was Daryl to his right. The hunter was leaned back in a chair, watching TV as his hands fiddled nervously. Rick smiled at the sight. His lover looked so worried and it touched Rick deeply at how much they meant to each other.

“Don’t look so worried,” Rick croaked from his dry mouth. Daryl practically jumped in his chair at the sound of his voice. Rick smiled at the hunter’s reaction and laughed a little. Suddenly he felt a pain dart across his stomach. His smiled faded as he remembered that he’d been shot.

“How ya feelin’?” Daryl asked. He reached over and grabbed a cup of water with a straw in it and brought it to Rick’s lips. Rick sipped slowly and quenched his parched mouth before he spoke.

“I’ve been better, I s’pose. What really happened?” Rick asked Daryl. He gave him a look like he wanted a straight answer.

“Shane shot you in the stomach. Mike took Shane down and called an ambulance for you. They got you here pretty quick and took you into surgery. Bullet didn’t go through so they had to find it. Lost a decent amount of blood, but they said you should be good as new in a few weeks.”

Rick looked to his left and saw the chair that Carl had been occupying was now empty. “Carl?”

“Went to the vending machines. He’ll be back in a minute. He was scared shitless. So was I…” Daryl mumbled the last part and looked down.

Rick reached out an empty hand and Daryl slipped his own into it. “Who told him?” Rick was curious.

“Mike went to the house, told him, then Carl called me and I met them over here. Mike left to go make statements about what happened, but only once we knew you’d made it past the tough part. Guess I’m glad I got that cellphone after all.” Daryl’s lips quirked up, hoping to make Rick smile.

It worked and Rick wished he could kiss his lover. Just then, the door to his hospital room opened and Carl walked in with an armful of vending machine items. Once he saw that Rick was awake, he dropped them all on the empty bed next to Rick and ran to his father’s side. Rick could tell that his son wanted to hug him, but Daryl must have told him to be gentle because he just gave Rick’s hand a tight squeeze instead.

“Hey. Did you clean ‘em out?” Rick asked, nodding towards the bounty Carl had come back with.

“Pretty much. The food here sucks. How’re you feeling?” Carl’s face was full of concern and Rick tried to put his own brave face on, just for his son’s sake.

“I’m fine. Daryl said I should be as good as new in a few weeks. So no worrying,” Rick said in what he hoped sounded like a reassuring tone. Carl’s eyes seemed to relax slightly and he sat down in the chair that he had occupied earlier.

A nurse and a doctor walked in after that and checked Rick’s charts. They filled him in on the surgery and how long it would take for him to heal. Once the doctor left, the nurse checked his vitals, changed his bandage, and gave him some more pain medicine. Rick tried to turn the meds down but Daryl just told him to hush and enjoy it while he could. The nurse laughed and said, “You should listen to your brother. They don’t give this stuff to just anyone.”

Once she left, Rick gave Daryl a confused look at what the nurse had said. He just shrugged and sighed. “Only way they’d let me in. Since you’re still considered critical, it’s family only. Wasn’t even me that said it. Carl called me his uncle and yanked me back here.”

Rick felt a small amount of sadness at that, but he was grateful that Carl had taken the initiative and made sure the Daryl was here for them both. Daryl urged Rick to drink some more water and he even got him to eat some chicken noodle soup. Rick had to pee, but he wasn’t allowed out of the bed, so Daryl had to help him with that too. Rick only felt slightly embarrassed by that.

Once he was settled and Carl and Rick were back in their chairs, the hospital room door flung open again and Grandma Pat and Grandpa Jim came swooping in. Carl jumped up and hugged them briefly before they ran over to Rick’s bedside. Daryl went to loosen his grip on Rick’s hand, but Rick held firm and gave Daryl a look to let him know he wasn’t going anywhere. Pat leaned over and gently gave Rick a kiss on the forehead as she talked. “Oh, Rick! We came as soon as we heard! It’s been all over the news and the radio. I was practically at the end of my rope as we drove over.”

“Well, I’m okay Pat. I’ll be back on my feet before you know it.” Rick was starting to feel tired again, especially with all these people in his room.

Jim came up and put a hand on Rick’s shoulder and squeezed lightly. “Son, I couldn’t be more proud of ya. Takin’ a bullet in the line of duty. I hate the situation. No one ever likes to hear about a cop going rogue, but you did good police work. World didn’t lose much when it lost Shane Walsh.”

Rick sighed because a part of him knew his father-in-law was right, but Rick hated the way things had turned out. That would probably haunt him for a long time. He gave Jim a half-smile and a slight nod. He turned to Daryl and practically begged for help when their eyes met.

“Well…uh…I think Rick’s pretty tired. He needs to get some rest,” Daryl said from his chair.

“And who are you?” Jim asked huffily. “Isn’t he still in critical care? Doesn’t that mean family only?” Jim looked to his wife who just gave him a confused shrug.

“This is Daryl Dixon. I didn’t want to tell you guys this way, but we’re together. We have been for some time.” Rick gave Daryl’s hand a reassuring squeeze to let him know that he wasn’t going to hide Daryl from anyone, not anymore. The pain meds also might have helped with Rick’s brutal honesty.

“Together? What do you mean together?” Pat asked.

“I mean together. As in, we’re dating. I love him and he loves me.” Rick smiled a little as he tried to hold himself back from singing the rest of the Barney song that played in his head.

A conflicted look crossed Jim’s face and he looked to Carl, who had sat back down in his chair next to Rick. “Rick, should we be having this conversation in front of Carl?”

Rick laughed a little in his drugged up state, but Carl was the one to actually speak. “Why wouldn’t they? It’s not like he did this without telling me. And I like Daryl. He’s really cool and nice and he makes Dad happy. If he’s happy, then I’m happy. Isn’t that all that matters?” Carl questioned his grandpa, who huffed out a quick breath in frustration.

Jim turned around and walked out the hospital room. Pat had a wide eyed expression and looked at the group in front her and then to the door that Jim had left open. “We’ll…uh…We’ll go check into our hotel room and eat and we’ll be back later tonight. Get some rest sweetie.” She gave Rick one more kiss on the forehead before she followed her husband out the door.

Rick started to chuckle at the whole situation and soon both Daryl and Carl had joined in with him. After the moment passed, Rick felt really tired. He looked to his lover who was absentmindedly rubbing a thumb across the back of Rick’s hand. “I think it’s nap time,” Rick mumbled and he smiled dreamily at his boyfriend. “But first…I haven’t had a kiss from you all day. Time to change that. Avert your eyes, Carl.” Rick held up a hand to shield his face as Daryl quirked a smile and slowly leaned forward and brought his lips softly down on top of his.

When he pulled away, Rick almost wanted to pout, but he resisted. He knew that Daryl was going to be extra gentle and careful around him while he healed. He glanced over at Carl, who just rolled his eyes and chuckled at his father’s actions, and then Rick leaned his head back and his eyes drooped closed.

When Rick woke up, he could tell it was already the next morning. He must have slept through the rest of the day and through the night as well. He looked to his left and Carl was asleep in the empty bed next to him. Then he looked right and saw Daryl had propped two chairs together next to Rick’s bed and rested his head against Rick’s hand as he dozed. Rick smiled a little but he soon realized his imminent need for the restroom and knew he would need the help of his boyfriend.

He brushed a hand against Daryl’s cheek, his favorite way to wake the hunter, and watched as Daryl slowly roused from his resting position. He looked up at Rick and Rick motioned to the bathroom. The hunter understood and pulled off the hospital blanket that was draped across his front. “You shouldn’t be gettin’ outta bed,” Daryl chided his lover.

“Well, I’d like to use a real toilet again,” Rick replied. Daryl relented and he slowly helped Rick sit up and turned his legs over the side of the bed. Rick sat there for a second as the blood rushed back to his lower limbs. Then he slowly stood, bracing against Daryl who was standing there to take his weight when he needed to.

They slowly worked their way over to the bathroom and when they finally got there, Rick had the best pee of his life. He let a long groan escape his mouth while Daryl stood behind him and held him up with an arm wrapped around Rick’s chest. The hunter chuckled at Rick’s noises. “Don’t think you ever sounded like that for me,” and he briefly kissed Rick on the neck.

Rick laughed at his lover’s words and replied, “No, I sounded much worse.” They both giggled and then slowly made their way back to the bed. Rick was in some mild pain and Daryl could see it written across his face. He pressed the nurse call button, against Rick’s wishes, and a nurse came in and promptly gave Rick some more pain medicine. But Rick made sure it was a lighter dose this go round.

“Did Jim and Pat come back last night?” Rick asked a little while later.

Daryl nodded. “Yea…They sat around for a couple hours. Left you those flowers.” Rick looked over and for the first time noticed about six bouquets sitting on a table. “Didn’t say much. Carl did most of the talking.”

“Well that’s no surprise.”

Soon, Carl woke and they ate a small breakfast. They spent their morning much like yesterday and when the doctor came in, he told Rick he had been taken off the critical care list and that he could have regular visitors now.

The first people to come and see him were Maria and Juliette. The two women fawned over him and left him tons of delicious smelling food. Carl and Daryl dug into the bowls, but Rick had to take it easy and could only eat small portions of each.

His next visitors were Captain Watson and Mike. They each gave Rick light hugs and Rick was eager to hear any news that they had. Rick gave Daryl a look and Daryl urged Carl to come with him to step outside for a smoke so the policemen could talk. Before they walked out, Daryl reached a hand out towards Mike, who took it and the two men shook. “I just want to say thank you. You saved his life and I owe you…everything,” Daryl said in a surprisingly clear and direct voice.

“Yea. Me too,” Carl said from behind the two men.

Mike smiled at them both and nodded. “Anytime. He would have done the same for me in a second.”

After Daryl and Carl walked out, the Captain and Mike took seats on the left side of Rick.

“How ya feeling, Grimes?” the Captain asked.

“I could be better, sir. But all things considered, I’m doing well.” Rick tried to sound upbeat.

“Good, son. Saw your father-in-law today. He’s real proud of ya. I am too. You did some excellent police work. I hate what happened, but that’s the nature of the game. Sometimes, you just can’t predict what’s gonna happen.”

“Any new details on the case, sir?” Rick asked curiously. Things had ended so abruptly for him that he was unsure of how the case had turned out.

The Captain sighed and looked to Mike. Mike nodded and spoke, “Well, you know I took Shane down. Three to the chest. We checked out the info that Misty gave us. She was right. Checked the motel in Jefferson and they recognized Shane and the victim. Found receipts for the room at Shane’s place. Even found out that Old Joe had a boat out on Belews that he had let Shane borrow that day, not knowing that Shane was gonna use it to dump a body. He was trying to pin everything on the Dixons like you said, to cover his own ass.”

All three men wore grim faces as they let the words sink in. Rick had never expected things to take this turn. He sighed and ran a hand over his stubbled chin. He hadn’t been able to shave for a few days, so he had the beginnings of a beard. “Well if there’s ever a time that I wished I had been wrong…” Rick’s voice trailed off.

“Hey, this was out of your control man. You did your job. We got the bad guy. It didn’t end like we wished it had, but it’s done and that’s all that matters,” Mike said.

Rick nodded and gave his friend a light smile.

“Well, we’re gonna let you rest up. Take all the time you need, Grimes. We’ll be in touch.” The Captain stood up and gave Rick a firm handshake. Mike took the time to lean forward and give him a light hug goodbye.

Before he pulled away, Rick said, “Thank you…for everything. If it wasn’t for you…”

“Hey. Like I said, you’d do it for me in a heartbeat. I always got your back, man.” Mike patted him on the shoulder and pulled away. They gave each other a short wave and the two men walked out of Rick’s hospital room.

Rick spent the rest of the day in the bed with Carl and Daryl at his side. Neither one left except to use the bathroom, or for Carl to run to the vending machines on occasion. Towards the end of the day, the doctor came back in and checked on Rick. He said everything was looking good and as long as things stayed that way, he could go home tomorrow. Rick sent up a silent thank you because he was just about sick of staying in bed all day long.

Jim and Pat came by later that night and spent a few hours sitting by Rick’s side. Carl did most of the talking to get rid of some the awkward tension that was still drifting around in the air. Rick didn’t bother to hide his affection for his boyfriend and they held hands the entire time. When the grandparents left, Pat insisted on taking Rick’s house key so she could go to the house tomorrow and get everything cleaned for when he left the hospital.

After Carl dozed off in the bed next to him, Rick looked over at his boyfriend. Daryl was watching him intently and Rick pretended that he was going to throw the remote at him. “What? What are you staring at?” he finally asked in a frustrated voice.

Daryl smirked at him. “Nothin’…Just thinkin’.”

“Thinking about what?”

Daryl sighed and his face took on a serious demeanor. “I’ve never been so…” he paused as he tried to find the right words. “Scared. When Carl called me, told me you’d been shot, worst of all by that scumbag Shane, I’ve never felt any fear like that. Not even when Merle would beat on me or when my daddy would go on a bender and come home and tear the house apart. Worst moment of my life…”

Rick reached for his lover and brushed a hand over his cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

Daryl grabbed the hand and placed a light kiss on the palm. “You ain’t got nothin’ to be sorry ‘bout. Jus’ doin’ your job. When I walked in here with Carl the first time, and we saw that you were still alive, breathin’ on your own, I knew…”

“Knew what?” Rick asked.

“Knew that I could never let you go.” Daryl leaned forward and placed a soft, deep kiss to Rick’s lips. A kiss that was full of all the love that Daryl had in him. A kiss that Rick would remember until the day he died. When Daryl pulled back, he leaned his forehead against Rick’s and stared into his eyes as he spoke softly. “You know you’re mine right? And I’m yours? From now until…forever.”

Rick laughed at his lover and nodded. He saw tears had welled up in Daryl’s eyes and he realized that he was crying too. But these were happy tears, the happiest of tears that he could ever shed. He pulled his lover forward and they embraced tightly. Daryl made sure to steer clear of Rick’s wound, but they hugged so tight that Rick felt like they had become one. “I love you…so, so much,” he whispered into the hunter’s ear.

“I love you too,” Daryl whispered back. When he finally pulled away a few minutes later, they both wiped at their eyes and tried to look like they hadn’t just had an incredibly intimate moment. Rick felt completely exhausted then and he scooted over in his hospital bed. Daryl took his cue and gently climbed in, wrapping his arms around the other man. They laid together and both soon fell asleep.

The next day, the doctors didn’t let Rick leave until the afternoon. They ran a couple more tests and when they were sure everything was normal, they let Daryl wheel Rick out of the hospital and he picked him up and loaded him into the passenger side of the jeep. Rick laughed because the picking up was completely unnecessary, but Daryl felt the need to do it anyways.

Rick felt a huge amount of relief when they pulled into the driveway. His house looked like it always had and he was extremely happy to be home. As Daryl helped Rick out of his seat, Carl scrambled out to help in any way that he could. As Rick walked up his front steps, Carl opened the front door and Rick stepped inside.

His house was completely spotless, perhaps even cleaner than it had been when he first moved in. Pat and Jim were in the living room and the house was filled with bouquets of flowers and tons of balloons that people had sent him. Rick felt a little overwhelmed and Daryl could see that. So he helped Rick to the bedroom and then he slowly undressed him and helped him into the shower.

The hunter gently washed Rick clean and helped him get dressed in some comfy clothes. After that, Carl knocked on the door and poked his head in. “Hey Dad. You hungry?”

“Uh…sure. What’re we eating?” Rick asked.

“You’ll see,” Carl said with a smirk and he walked to the kitchen.

Daryl walked with Rick down the hallway and they sat at the table while Pat served everyone a plate. When she sat one down in front of Rick, he saw that she had made her famous chicken pot pie. He looked down at his plate and then brought his eyes to Carl and then quickly to Daryl. Both of them had small smiles on their faces and before anyone could help it, all three started laughing uncontrollably.

Jim and Pat sat at the table dumbfounded, not sure what all the amusement was about. By the time they were done, all three were red in the face and wiping tears from their eyes. As Rick ate, a small chuckle would escape his mouth every now and then, threatening to send them into another fit of laughter. “This is absolutely delicious, Pat,” Rick said to his mother-in-law.

“Well, thank you…” she said, still confused over what all the laughing was about.

As the night drew to an end and everyone sat in the living room, Jim and Pat stood to take their leave. They hugged Rick and Carl goodbye and said their I love you’s. As they were gathering their things, Pat asked in an almost too polite way, “So…Daryl, did you need a ride anywhere?”

Rick looked to his lover who seemed just as surprised by the question. Rick squeezed his boyfriend’s knee and looked to his mother-in-law. “Nah, Pat. He stays here with us.”


	30. Chapter 30

Rick looked out the kitchen window at their big back yard. He sipped his coffee and watched as a small family of deer poked their heads out at the tree line and bent down in the grass. It was still a little early so the sun wasn’t too high in the sky yet, but it gave enough light to create a peaceful image for him to watch.

“One of those could feed us for at least a week,” a rough voice mumbled behind him. Arms wrapped around his torso and soft kisses were placed on his neck and Rick smiled against his mug. He sat the cup down and leaned back into Daryl’s arms and squeezed his hands over the hunter’s.

“Hey now. What’d I say? I believe it was no hunting at the new house. I don’t wanna worry about hearing any gunshots,” Rick teased.

“Yea, yea, yea,” Daryl replied and picked Rick’s cup up, taking a sip of the hot liquid.

It had been about eight months since Rick had come home from the hospital. Healing was slow, but Daryl had stayed with him most days. When Rick asked about Daryl going back to the garage, Daryl waved him off and said that he had talked to his brother. Merle was going to pick up his shifts until Rick was well enough for Daryl to feel okay about leaving him alone. The elder Dixon said it was the least he could do since he didn’t get wrapped up in a murder charge, although he never did directly thank Rick for that.

Even once Daryl had gone back to work, he never really did go back to the old house he shared with his brother. He steadily brought things over to Rick’s place, until eventually it was pretty clear that he was living with Rick and Carl. The small house was practically overflowing and Rick finally decided that they needed a bigger place. They searched for about a month until their real estate agent found them this house on the outskirts of town. It was just the right size and the best part of all was the big, open land that surrounded them.

Rick fell in love as soon as he saw it, and Daryl could tell that he wanted it. So they signed the papers just a few days later. That had been about a month ago and they had settled in just fine. Carl had his own room in the basement, away from Rick and Daryl, and he loved having his own space. Rick liked it almost as much as his son. They had even bought a second car to make getting around with all three of them a little bit easier, especially since Carl was outgrowing the back of the jeep a little more as each day passed.

Rick went back to the station a few weeks after his injury. He sat behind a desk at first; the Captain told him to take it easy. Plus he didn’t have a partner to go on patrol with. Rick was worried that his fellow officers would hold a grudge against him after everything that had happened, but every single one of them gave him a handshake on his first day back.

Eventually, Mike became his new partner, much to J.T.’s chagrin. But the Captain saw how well they got along and he figured Rick needed someone that he could trust through and through to head back out with. Rick couldn’t have picked a better man himself and they worked well together. Sometimes Rick still thought of his old partner, but he would quickly shake off those grim thoughts and try to enjoy what he had now.

“Hey, get your own cup,” Rick said indignantly. He grabbed for his mug from his lover’s hands and Daryl chuckled.

“Why do that when I have yours? You fix it better anyways.”

Rick smirked but rolled his eyes and walked to the screened-in porch they had on the side of the house. It was just starting to get warm outside again and when they had such pretty land around them, he couldn’t help but take every second he could to enjoy it. A minute later, Daryl joined him with his own cup of coffee and the two sat in silence, sipping their steaming cups and holding hands.

A little while later, they heard some rumbling around in the kitchen behind them and that meant that Carl must be ready for school. After a minute, he came outside and leaned against the porch railing, looking at the two in their chairs. “Morning…” he mumbled sleepily while he munched on a poptart.

“Morning, son. How’d you sleep?” Rick asked.

“Fine, I guess. Can Jake and Roy come over after school today? Jake has this game he wants to show us.”

“Sure. They staying for dinner?”

“I don’t know. Maybe,” Carl shrugged.

“I guess you better cook extra then,” Rick said, glancing over to Daryl.

“Nah…I’ll let you cook. Then they can go home to their parents and tell ‘em that you poisoned ‘em,” Daryl teased. He gave Rick a wink, but that didn’t stop Rick from smacking Daryl with a section of the newspaper that neither one of them were reading.

He brought his attention back to his son. “Yea, that’s fine. Don’t forget that Maria and Juliette are coming over with the girls tomorrow for dinner, so you need to clean your room. Help us out a little, please.”

“Fine…Gotta go catch the bus. Love you, Dad.” Carl reached down and gave Rick a quick hug. Then he turned towards Daryl and gave him a quick hug as well. “Love you, Daryl.”

“Love you, kid. Go kick some ass today,” Daryl said as Carl walked out the door and up the road to his bus stop.

Rick glanced over to his lover who had gone back to reading the paper and he watched him for a minute. They had had some ups and downs over the past few months, but there was never any doubt that they weren’t going to stick with it and fight past the bullshit to be together. He’d never thought he’d find someone that he could love this much again after Lori had died but he had been proven wrong, and he’d never been so happy to be wrong in his entire life.

Daryl finally noticed him watching and he looked over at Rick. “What?”

“Oh…nothing. Just thinking about how you don’t have to go into the garage today and I don’t have to be at the station for another two hours…” Rick trailed off and raised his eyebrows at this lover.

Daryl picked up his coffee mug, finished the last few sips of it, sat it back down and then slowly folded up his paper. He sat the pages down on the table between them and then finally looked to Rick. “I’ll race ya.”

With that, both men jumped out of their chairs and ran into the kitchen. Daryl pulled out a chair at the table to block Rick’s way and Rick scoffed as he jumped over it. They ran down the hallway, shedding clothes in the process. Shirts fell to the floor and pants were unbuttoned and awkwardly kicked off as they kept moving. Rick reached Daryl and gave him a hip check, which knocked the hunter out of the way and Rick zoomed past him.

He made the final turn into their bedroom and flopped down on the bed. He huffed out a quick breath as he turned over smiling. Before he could say anything, Daryl jumped on top of him and gave his ribs a quick tickle. He shoved the hunter’s hands away and yelled, “I won!!!”

Daryl laughed at him and rolled to his side. He ran his hands across Rick’s bare chest as they both caught their breath. “Alright…How ya want it?”

“Hmmm,” Rick mumbled in thought. “Like last time,” he finally decided.

“Oh…ya want it sweet,” the hunter smirked. Then he leaned forward and brought warm, coffee scented kisses to Rick’s mouth. They took their time and parted their lips so their tongues could explore the mouths that they already knew by heart. They had been together a million times, but Rick never tired of these sweet kisses. They were practically his lifeblood.

Soon Daryl was on top of him and they were rubbing hands up and down each other’s bodies. Daryl licked and sucked at Rick’s neck, trying to be gentle so he wouldn’t leave any marks. The last time he did, Rick caught hell at the station from the other guys. He sighed in pleasure and lifted his hips into Daryl’s.

Their stiff erections rubbed against one another, creating a sweet friction that caused Daryl to groan into Rick’s neck. Daryl rolled his hips into Rick a couple times before he started to move his lips down south. He placed light kisses along Rick’s chest, took the time to bite each nipple, and then slowly made his way to Rick’s hard cock that was standing at attention for the hunter.

Daryl plunged his mouth down on it and Rick let out a loud gasp and his back arched a little. He smacked one of Daryl’s hands. “Easy, baby…” he moaned to the hunter. Daryl slowed his pace and softly lapped at the velvety smooth skin that his mouth had enveloped. Rick sighed at how good it felt and he ran a hand through Daryl’s hair.

Then Daryl pulled up and reached into their nightstand. He came back with a small bottle that Rick knew quite well. He bit his lip in anticipation as Daryl wetted his fingers. As the hunter’s mouth went back to work, he slipped a finger inside Rick and a shiver went up his spine. He was ready within a few minutes; they had done this so many times now that Daryl knew exactly how long it took to get Rick warmed up.

Daryl pulled his fingers out, rubbed some lube on his own stiff length and then he came up by Rick’s side and laid down. Rick turned onto his own side, making him the little spoon and Daryl propped Rick’s leg up onto his own. He guided the head of his hard cock to Rick’s entrance and gently slipped it in.

Rick groaned at the pressure of being filled by his lover. He squeezed the pillow by his head and moaned, “Oh fuck baby…” Once Daryl was all the way in, he ran a hand from Rick’s knee all the way to his chest, soothing his lover while he adjusted. The hunter wrapped his arms around Rick’s torso and placed small kisses on his shoulder and neck.

Once Rick was ready, he urged Daryl to move his hips and the jolt of pleasure he felt once Daryl started to pull out and push back in was almost too much for him. He reached an arm back and ran a hand through the hunter’s hair as he tossed his head back and groaned. His empty hand gripped at the muscular arms wrapped around him and he reveled in all the different sensations he was feeling.

“You like that?” Daryl asked as he continued to thrust his hips into Rick.

“Oh yea baby. I fucking love this. I love you holding me…mmmm…while you fuck me from behind.” Rick was starting to pant now as Daryl picked up his pace. He turned his head and their lips connected in a messy kiss.

Daryl slid a hand down and wrapped it around Rick’s thick cock. He gave him a few slow strokes, causing Rick to leak from the tip. Daryl swept up the droplets of come with his fingers and brought them to his mouth. Rick groaned while he watched Daryl lick them clean and then he resumed stroking him from root to tip.

“Mmmm…just like that, baby…feels so good…” Rick moaned to his lover. He started to harden even more in the hunter’s hand, feeling his orgasm fast approaching.

He pulled his hand from Daryl’s hair and moved it to the hunter’s hip that was quickly working back and forth behind him. He squeezed the tender flesh and urged him to speed up.

“You gettin’ close, baby? You gonna come for me?” Daryl whispered in Rick’s ear as he moved his hips harder and faster, pounding into Rick just the way he liked it.

“Oh fuck…” Rick moaned between deep breaths and gritted teeth. “Oh yea…Don’t stop…I’m gonna come…”

Daryl squeezed his hand tighter around Rick’s dripping cock and stroked him with each push and pull of his hips. The hunter brought his lips to Rick’s neck and gave him a hard bite and that sent Rick over the edge. He dug his nails into Daryl’s hip as he tossed his head back and moaned loudly as he spilled onto the bed in front of him.

“Oh god…oh baby…oh…I love you…” Rick practically whimpered as Daryl stroked him through his orgasm.

“Mmmm…Love to watch you come…” Daryl huffed as he continued to pump into Rick. Only a few thrusts later and he started to come undone as well. He gripped Rick’s waist tight as he pushed into him, emptying all he had into his lover. He buried his face in Rick’s neck and moaned as he finished, “Oh god…I fucking love you…”

Rick smiled, turned his head and placed soft kisses into Daryl’s hair. He loved it when they made love like this. He felt so safe and cared for in Daryl’s arms, plus this position always felt amazing. After they both caught their breath, the hunter gently pulled out and turned onto his back. Rick then turned over and rested his head on Daryl’s chest.

Daryl gently ran a hand through Rick’s curls and they laid in a peaceful silence; Rick’s head lifting up and down at each inhale and exhale the hunter made.

“Hmmm. You know what? I think you called me baby,” Rick said, his words breaking the quiet.

“What? When?”

“Just now. I think you called me baby when you asked if I was gonna come. I think that’s the first time you’ve ever done that,” and Rick smiled as he tilted his head up and looked at his lover.

Daryl colored slightly and smirked. “Must of slipped out,” and he shrugged.

“Nah…I like it. You should do it more often. All this time, you’ve been baby to me. I’d like to hear it too.”

“Oh, you would?” Daryl asked. He turned Rick onto his back and moved so he was on top of him. He looked into Rick’s eyes, their noses barely touching, and Rick used his hands to brush some hair away from the hunter’s face.

“Yea…I think I’d like to be your baby,” Rick said and he gave Daryl a big smile.

Daryl gave him one of his equally big grins and placed a small kiss on his lips. “Ok. Here on out, you’ll always be my baby.”

“Good,” was all Rick said as he pulled the hunter in for another kiss. They embraced tightly and Rick found happiness in the fact that he knew the hunter meant it. They’re love wasn’t perfect, but it was always true and Rick knew he’d never find a better man than Daryl Dixon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright my wonderful readers! This is the end. I just want to say that I loved writing every single second of this story and I want to give a huge thanks to every single person who commented, who bookmarked, who gave me kudos. I appreciate every single one of them. A special thanks to my people who commented on every single chapter (you know who you are) and thank you for making this story what it is. I definitely wouldn't have written it without so much encouragement from each one of you! So thank you again! Love you guys!


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